M.Gemi Review: Handcrafted Italian Shoes

Price: $198

M.Gemi was founded in 2015 by Maria Gangemi, Cheryl Kaplan, and Ben Fischman. Maria grew up in Sicily and loved to see what new shoes the artisanal shoemaker’s came out with each week in the little shops. As she got older, she realized that this art was beginning to fade away. Her passion for shoes and her culture drove the desire to keep this artform alive.

Her dream became a reality when met Cheryl Kaplan and Ben Fischman. The former two entrepreneurs had already teamed up together on other ventures in the past that had been successful. So, when they met Maria, they knew it could be a good fit because of her passion for something the retail market was lacking.

A huge part of the reason M.Gemi exists in the first place is to keep artisanal shoemakers alive. Therefore, they only work with smaller family workshops across Italy to create their luxury shoes. These workshops are dedicated to passing the craft along to future generations so that it doesn’t fade away with society’s love of mass consumerism.

This isn’t the only great thing about M.Gemi though. They also partner with other companies focused on reducing, eliminating, and.or educating about Cancer. During the month of October, M.Gemi partners with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to increase awareness. They also donate 10% of all proceeds on specific pre-designated products during that month to the foundation.

Another company M.Gemi has partnered with is Fuck Cancer. They created an M.Gemi original Fuck Cancer specialty sneaker for this non-profit. Each pair of these sneakers purchased benefits the organization to further the reach of Cancer awareness before, during, and after treatment. It’s hard not to buy from a brand with this much social responsibility.

When it comes to comfort and performance of the M.Gemi shoes, I was pleasantly surprised. As someone who typically buys second hand footwear, this was a huge splurge for me. But, I’m really glad I made the choice to give them a try.

I decided to go with the most popular M.Gemi Felize Black Suede and wait 7 business days to receive them. The packaging they came in was fairly minimal and easy to open. I was really excited to try them on as soon as I took them out of the package.

The first thing I noticed were the little rubber grips on the bottom and back of the shoe. I figured these would make the shoe less stable for me, but it was quite the opposite. They appeared to assist with my stability and added some additional comfort to the shoe.

I was also concerned about the initial breaking in period that usually comes with all shoes. So I was really surprised to not have any of that at all with these shoes. That has never happened to me with any shoes before!

I only noticed a couple of things that I wasn’t so sure of to begin with. At first my new M.Gemi shoes squeaked when I walked around. But I had chosen not to wear socks with them initially. As soon as I put on a pair of no show socks, the squeak went away.

I also noticed that the shoes got dirtier than I anticipated. But this was probably due to the fact that I chose the M.Gemi Felizee in black suede. Cleaning them was very quick and simple with a dry cloth though.

The last thing I noticed, albeit very minor in the grand scheme of things, was that one of the shoes had a different colored stitch. My guess is that something happened during manufacturing and they didn’t have the correct color thread to fix it. However, I didn’t notice it during the returns window. So, it will just be one of those things that makes my pair of M.Gemi’s even more unique.

Ultimately, I couldn’t be happier with my purchase and plan to wear them as often as possible.

The first place you can save with M.Gemi is by signing up for their email list. They offer all new subscribers $50 off their first order. Plus, they’ll send emails with specials and new lines regularly.

Purchasing higher end luxury shoes can be a big purchase for a lot of consumers. So, here are some of the most common questions asked prior to a purchase from M.Gemi.

Overall, if you’ve been considering embarking upon the luxury Italian shoe market, M.Gemi may just be what you’ve been looking for. This shoe company focuses on keeping the art of shoemaking alive for generations.

Plus, they partner with different philanthropies to continue worldwide awareness in the Cancer arena. The fact that the look, feel, and quality of these shoes is hard to beat doesn’t hurt either.