New loafer leather, cracking or not?
I posted this on another site, but haven't got any responses yet... then I realized this might be a better place to ask.
Perhaps someone here can give me some advice… I just bought these Barker loafers online from a place in England. Very handsome shoes, and they fit perfectly. This is how they looked out of the box, someone has clearly tried them on before me, which of course I don’t mind. But the amount and texture of the wrinkling is unfamiliar from whatever decent shoes I’ve seen before.
When I emailed the shop with these photos, they assured me this was normal for good leather. My impression from past dealings is that they’re very conscientious and trustworthy, and I can easily believe them.
But I still have reservations about the area in the first photo. It looks like the beginning of cracking to me, like shoes which I’ve mistreated in the past, when I didn’t know how to take care of them. Is this normal for brand new good leather?
Anyway, I’d be grateful if anyone could comment, thanks very much…
Posted Oct 10, 2025, 7:20 PM UTC