In certain corners of the internet, a post-sneaker society has been all-but-imminent since the early days of the pandemic. I’m not here to issue any ultimatums on the state of your shoe rack. There are sneakers I love, and sneakers I don’t. But as the loafer rumble of the last few years has given way to a genuine loafer roar—and the early movers in the space hoover up market share by the, uh, foot—people whose taste I trust on a deep level seem to be singing the praises of one label: Morjas.
The frequency with which Morjas comes up in conversation is no Baader-Meinhof illusion—repentant sneaker fiends with a hankering for hard-bottoms name-drop the brand like a Page Six columnist on speed. Which feels appropriate, given the Stockholm-based label’s quick trajectory to the top.
Morjas launched in 2017 with a novel MO: merge the chilled-out insouciance of Mediterranean style with the high-minded trappings of Scandinavian minimalism. Sure, it sounds abstract, but take one jaunt through the brand’s product assortment—now available on Mr Porter, FYI—and the notion becomes a lot more tangible.
The Ivy Loafer, for instance, is a classic penny silhouette whose lone flourish is a subtly-indented saddle strap. Its shorter vamp, though, reads a little more casual than its conventional Northampton counterparts, allowing it to glide effortlessly from swanky summer shindigs to swampy sidewalk happy hours. Ditto the Belgian Loafer, a submarine-sleek leather slip-on held together by Blake stitching. It would look just as killer anchoring a tux as it would tattered jeans, and that’s exactly the point.
Speaking of summer shindings: If you’re on the hunt for a wedding-ready Oxford, don’t sleep on the matte black pair currently on offer, or the derby in glossy calf. Missed out on the gloriously distressed low-profile boat shoe Sperry dropped with Colbo earlier this month? Morjas’ boat shoe is similarly low-pro, though you’ll have to distress ‘em yourself the old-fashioned way.
If you’ve somehow ignored the nagging question of cost until now, I’ll rip the bandaid off for you: these shoes aren’t cheap. But when you take into account their general versatility and spot-on construction, they are one of the best value plays on the market—especially when you compare ‘em to competitors charging quadruple as much. In other words, the moment that box from Mr Porter hits your doorstep, your shoe rack is in for a world of upheaval.