Loafers are back — meet the London shoemaker who kits out Jason Statham, Gary Lineker and Sylvester Stallone

It’s a fabulous time to be in the business of proper gentlemen’s shoes. So says George Glasgow Jr, owner of the British shoemaker George Cleverley, where loafers are flying off the shelves. Over an expensive lunch at Mayfair members club Maison Estelle, Glasgow tells me that his firm, founded in 1898, is expanding and will launch on e-retailer Mytheresa next month. 

He’s not wrong — proper, preppy shoes have flooded the catwalks, Tommy Hilfiger this year declared streetwear dead and ushered in the return of posh, while searches for loafers are up 100 per cent at John Lewis. 

“We run and Sylvester Stallone to Henry Cavill and Daniel Day-Lewis, not to mention Glasgow’s best mate (and one of his best men) (who is “such a sweetheart”). “People always ask, how’d you get that guy to wear your shoes?” he says. “I say he came in and bought them. That’s the best advertisement.”