Eric Walker

Every J Craft’s retro-style hull conceals ultramodern comforts and a setup fit for a tech-savvy Viking If you are familiar with the Ship of Theseus paradox, you’ll know that dating back to the Greeks, the famous philosophical question is this: if a boat has all its components replaced, is it at the end still the same boat? Every J Craft’s retro-style hull conceals ultramodern comforts and a setup fit for a tech-savvy Viking In Sweden there is a near modern-day version of this taking place every year at the J Craft shipyard on the island of Gotland.

Founded in 1879 in Northampton, Crockett & Jones sits at the center of British footwear. While other venerable shoemaking names have chased trainers and other youthful styles, marketing and e-commerce director James Fox says the family company (Fox is the son-in-law of managing director Jonathan Jones, fourth generation of the co-founding Joneses) preferred to “double down.” “We’ve stuck to our guns. There’s a lot to be said for being the shepherd and not the sheep,” says Fox. Trainers, he suggests, are not the inevitable end point of modern footwear. To illustrate this, he cites the company’s selection of Travel Loafers. “There’s not much between this and my gym trainers,” he says of a style called the Harvard 2.