I first came across FromTheFirst on Instagram about a year ago. At first their IG seemed to be just another Saint Laurent fan page, but it then emerged that they were actually a startup brand, working on their own line of boots in the same vein as SLP’s. Over time more details emerged: it became clear that they were aiming for a quality product, handmade in Italy from all Italian leather – but at a pricepoint of £350 (~$480 at the time of writing), they were still significantly undercutting the prices of SLP and other designer brands. I was interested.

After a bit of build-up, the boots finally launched for pre-orders on Black Friday last year, and they looked good. I was pretty sure I wanted a pair, but funds were a little tight after making a few other big cops in the Black Friday sales, so I wasn’t sure I was ready to drop the cash to buy a pair. I decided to reach out the brand to see if I could leverage what little “””influencer””” status I have to finesse myself a free pair of boots to review. I thought it was a long shot, but to my surprise they quickly agreed, and here we are.

So to be entirely upfront before I jump into the actual review: yes, the boots I’m discussing were gifted to me for review. The brand also gave me a discount code to share; if you use the code DOM when you place your order, you’ll get 10% off, and I will receive a small commission on your purchase. Nonetheless, all opinions are my own uncensored views – I am under no obligation to sugarcoat or embellish the truth.

So with that shit out of the way, I’ll get on with the review.

Silhouette

Given their Instagram page’s roots, FromTheFirst have made it no secret that they’re taking some heavy inspo from Hedi Slimane’s SLP, and so these boots were always going to be compared to SLP’s Wyatt, beloved for its incredibly sleek silhouette. To cut to the chase, after comparing the two side-by-side, the Luca doesn’t just match the Wyatt silhouette – in my opinion, it’s actually better.

To clarify, the Wyatts in the above comparison are from FW16, so they are a slim-shaft variant. The two boots are clearly very similar in shape, but I personally find the Luca’s almond-shaped toe to be more appealing than the more chiselled Wyatt last. Your preferences may differ from mine, but I hope the above photos are sufficient for you to draw your own conclusions.

One detail I’ve been asked about specifically is the thickness of the boots’ shaft – in particular, whether it fits under skinny jeans without bulging out awkwardly. I can confirm that this has not been an issue for me at all; I wear Acne Thins, with a ~6″ leg opening, and I haven’t had any issues with the shaft being visible through them, even withthe boots being a size 45:

Leather

While the price point of £350 or ~$480 makes them significantly cheaper than essentially all designer boots, they’re not quite chump change either. Unsurprisingly, I’ve had a lot of questions asking me whether the quality is up to the pricetag. As I’ve written about before, “quality” is a bit of a nebulous thing to quantify, but I’ll try to provide some insight in a few of the key areas.

I’ll start with the leather. I’m sure there are leather experts out there that could rattle off a litany of factors that go into leather quality, but for me it really boils down to two things: how it feels, and how it looks.

To be brief, the leather on these boots feels good. It’s all calf, which strikes a good balance between softness and durability; it’s smooth without being flimsy, and sturdy without being constrictive.

Out of the box, the leather looks great – a smooth finish with a natural sheen that immediately sets it apart from the dull matte or artificially shiny finishes found on cheap mall-brand shoes. On first impressions, it stands up to the standard I’d expect of any pair of designer leather boots.

Looking good on day one is great, but there’s a reason I didn’t write this review the day they arrived: to find out how they age.

I’ve owned these boots for about six weeks, I’ve probably worn them around 25-30 times during that period, putting roughly 4km of wear on them each time – so I think I can now draw some reasonable conclusions about how they stand up to wear. I should mention that I’ve kept shoes trees in them pretty consistently throughout the time I’ve had them.

As with all leather shoes, creases have formed along the main flexion points. Overall, I’m very satisfied with the way they’ve creased – the creases are unobtrusive and natural, lending the boots a lived-in look without compromising the sleekness that attracted me to them in the first place. From what I can remember, essentially all of these creases had formed within the first week of wear, and haven’t changed much since then – so I’m pretty confident that this is how they’re gonna stay long-term.

Comparing the creasing directly side by side with my Saint Laurent jodhpurs (which I believe are the FW14 model), I would give the SLPs a narrow victory, but the Luca definitely holds its own:

While I haven’t exactly beaten the shit out of these boots, I certainly haven’t babied them either. I’ve managed to pick up a few scuffs, and I’ve been caught in the rain with them on more than one occasion. I have noticed that sometimes if the leather gets wet it can leave sort of raised marks, but most of them disappear once they dry, and conditioning/polishing the leather has been enough to get rid of the more stubborn ones (as well as healing up any scuffs). I probably wouldn’t wear these to walk through any swamps, but if you give them a polish every now and then they should be perfectly fine in less-than-perfect weather.

Overall, the quality of the leather is perfectly satisfying, without blowing me away. It looks good, ages well, and seems like it can take some punishment, but it doesn’t smash it out of the park on any particular front.

Construction

Again, I’m not an expert on shoe construction, but from everything I can see, these boots are built damn well. Inspecting the stitches (is there any more captivating way to pass the time?) shows them to be consistently tight, clean, and uniform.

The sole is Blake-stitched to the upper, so the boots can be resoled – though I had a rubber half-sole applied soon after I got them, because even with a stitched sole, it’s easier and cheaper to replace an extra piece of rubber than replacing the whole sole.

The exposed YKK zippers are beefy, with an action that is both smooth and secure. I never have trouble getting the zipper going, and it has never shown the slightest sign of wanting to get jammed or caught up or whatever.

Overall, nothing moves that shouldn’t, all the details seem tight, and ultimately, having the boots in hand, they just feel rock-solid.

Styling

I’ve found these boots to be incredibly easy to style, and in fact they’ve ended up being the perfect shoe to bring together loads of different fits I’ve been wearing recently.

The overall look of the boots really vibes with me – the contrasting exposed zipper and 40mm heel add a bit of edge, but the smooth leather finish and absence of any other detailing keeps them looking clean. I particularly like wearing them with cropped trousers, exposing the full height of the boots, but as mentioned, they look great with skinny jeans too. Here are just a couple of the straight fire fits I’ve put together with them so far:

Fit and Comfort

As I mentioned earlier, I went for a size 45 in these boots, which is true to size for me (I wear 45 in SLP, Balmain, Haider Ackermann, and Common Projects, a 44 in Ann D boots and Lanvin sneakers, and a ~46 in Margiela GATs).

To be brief, they fit me perfectly. They are snug on my heel/arch, but comfortably roomy in the toebox. Comparing the fit directly, I’d say that they might fit a little tighter than SLP. My Wyatts, also a 45, certainly feel a little looser overall (I probably could have sized down to a 44.5 on them) – but they are also suede, and I’ve had them for a lot longer, so they’ve likely stretched out some. If you wear a half size in SLP, I would say you should go up to the nearest whole size in FromTheFirst rather than down, but otherwise you’re probably good going TTS.

Comfort-wise, they’ve been great. The leather definitely started off pretty stiff, but even after wearing them for something like four or five days in a row to help break them in, I never got any blisters. Obviously being hard-sole boots with a 40mm heel they’re not going to compare to a good pair of sneakers on comfort, but even on days of walking in them for hours, they’ve never given me any actual discomfort.

Conclusions

Overall, I’m really pleased with these boots. They’ve really filled a niche in my wardrobe, turning out to be the perfect shoe for tons of outfits (as evidenced by the fact that I’ve worn them more than all my other shoes combined since they arrived). The quality has more than met my expectations, and the shape is literally second to none.

Given that I got these boots for free, and that I stand to gain from others buying them, I’ll spare you a closing sales pitch about how FromTheFirst are disrupting the market and offering afforable luxury or other buzzword-laced bullshit.

What I will say is that these boots have won me over. Next time I’m in the market for this kind of sleek boot, FromTheFirst would be my brand of choice. I hope that this review has been informative enough for you to decide whether they’re also the right option for you.

Where to buy

If you do want a pair, you can buy them here. Remember to use the code DOM and you’ll get 10% off (this code applies to all colourways and models, including the new ‘Enzo’ harness boot variation).

Also keep in mind that FromTheFirst have a 28-day returns policy, so it’s no sweat if you change your mind or need a different size.

TL;DR:

Leather: 7.5/10 Construction: 8/10 Aesthetics: 10/10 Buy them here, use the code DOM for 10% off



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