Myrqvist: Swedish Design, Portuguese Craftsmanship | An Interview with Head of Product Massar Schneiter.
Shoes are among the few things we buy for the journey and then spend an inordinate amount of time judging before it begins. They must carry the body, survive the pavement and negotiate the delicate business of appearance, all while pretending that comfort and style have never disagreed. A well-made pair resolves this argument without making a spectacle of the effort. A poorly made one tends to hold the meeting indefinitely.
Stockholm-based Myrqvist entered the footwear market in 2016 with a proposition that challenged an entrenched assumption: Quality shoemaking need not be reserved for those willing to pay a small fortune. Its approach combines Swedish design with handcraft in Portugal, bringing together two distinct sensibilities through an emphasis on proportion, material and considered construction. The result is less a declaration of luxury than an argument about what quality ought to cost, and what a customer should reasonably expect in return.
Footwear is an unforgiving medium for design. There is little room to disguise an awkward silhouette, an ill-judged toe or a last that asks the foot to make too many concessions. Such decisions may occupy only a small part of the finished object, but they determine its character in use. Myrqvist also gives its models Swedish geographical names, a quiet way of grounding an international product in the landscape and personal associations from which the brand emerged.
Its latest sneaker designs, Högalid and Stensund II, demonstrate two different ways of extending that identity. Högalid introduces a more expressive note, with soft leather, an abstract M motif across the sides and a gum outsole. The accompanying campaign, The New Shoe in Town, places the sneaker above a waking city, lending an everyday object an almost surreal entrance. Stensund II takes a more measured route. Suede, mesh, a perforated calf-leather lining and a custom outsole combine practical considerations with a restrained visual character. Its campaign, Who are you?, leaves room for the wearer to supply the answer, rather than prescribing a personality along with the footwear.
The two releases illustrate a familiar difficulty in design: how to evolve without becoming unrecognisable. Högalid allows more playfulness into the equation; Stensund II concentrates on adaptability and detail. Both address a wardrobe in which the boundaries between work, leisure and occasion have become increasingly negotiable. The modern shoe must be prepared for a day that rarely unfolds according to its owner's original plan.
There is a difference, however, between a design that lasts and one that merely avoids looking dated. The first earns continued use; the second waits patiently for fashion to move on. Myrqvist draws on established footwear forms while refining them through proportion, materials and construction. Its Goodyear-welted shoes bring the question of durability into particularly sharp focus, since the ability to resole and repair them can extend their useful life well beyond the initial purchase. Sneakers operate under different constraints, but they invite the same broader consideration: Whether a product is designed only for the moment it is bought, or for the less glamorous years that follow.
In a culture that has become remarkably efficient at making yesterday's purchase feel obsolete, that distinction deserves attention. Longevity is not established by a reassuring label or an appealing origin story. It emerges through the accumulated experience of wearing, caring for and returning to an object because it continues to do its job well. The romance of craftsmanship is all very well; ultimately, the shoe still has to fit.
We spoke with Massar Schneiter, Head of Product at Myrqvist, about the decisions behind the brand's footwear, the relationship between design and daily life, and how to make products that give customers good reasons to keep wearing them.
Myrqvist began in 2016 with a clear proposition: well-made footwear should not require an extravagant price. What did you see in the industry then that convinced you this was a business worth building?
Massar Schneiter: Our founder, Sebastian, previously sold shoe trees and accessories through another company he started. That gave him a deep understanding of the category, and of Goodyear-welted shoes in particular.
He saw that Goodyear-welted shoes were unreasonably expensive and could be made for less by cutting out middlemen such as agents and retailers. The market was split in two: extremely expensive shoes at $500 and up, or cheap, low-quality shoes at $150 and below that fell apart after a year or two. Myrqvist was built for the space in between.
Myrqvist brings together Swedish design and Portuguese shoemaking, with longstanding relationships on the manufacturing side. How have those two traditions shaped one another, and where does the Swedish character of a Myrqvist shoe ultimately reside?
Massar Schneiter: It lies in the minimalist design and balanced lasts that don't lean too far in any direction. We also name every model after a Swedish town or city. Our most classic shoe, the Oxford, is called Äppelviken II, after the area where Sebastian grew up. It was the first model we made.
Combined with family-owned factories that have been passed down through generations and focus entirely on manual craft, it has become a good symbiosis.
Timelessness is often invoked in design, but is difficult to achieve. How do you distinguish something genuinely enduring from something that is simply restrained enough to remain fashionable?
Massar Schneiter: We look far back and see what still holds up. Penny loafers, Oxfords and jumper boots are as popular today as they were fifty years ago. Where we choose to be contemporary is in the details: balanced lasts, our own outsoles and a perforated lining, as in Stensund II.
Myrqvist has expanded from formal footwear into sneakers, boots, sandals and accessories. How do you decide whether a new category strengthens the brand's design language rather than diluting it?
Massar Schneiter: It's very difficult. We look outward at what people actually wear on the street. Before the pandemic, we only made Goodyear-welted dress shoes. When people started dressing more casually, we embraced it, and it has strengthened us as a brand.
We want to give customers shoes they can wear to the office, such as Stenhammar II, on a Sunday, such as Högalid, and on the beach, such as Solvik.
The last is largely invisible, yet it determines much of a shoe's character, comfort and proportion. How do your lasts express the Myrqvist design philosophy, and how do you balance silhouette with the realities of the foot?
Massar Schneiter: It's all about proportion and not taking it too far. If we want a chiseled toe, we keep it balanced, as on Norrmalm II. A rounder toe, like on Elfvik II, is never extremely round but almost almond-shaped. Balance matters, and so does a correct fit.
Achieving the right fit takes a lot of time to perfect. Last #19, which we use on Stenhammar II, took almost two years to perfect. We develop a first version, wear it for a month or two, and then make revisions until we find the fit perfect without compromising on aesthetics.
A Goodyear-welted shoe can be repaired, renewed and worn for decades. Do you think consumers are beginning to value patina, repair and longevity as forms of personal history, rather than simply signs of wear?
Massar Schneiter: Yes. We now have stores in four countries and see more people coming in to have their shoes resoled. All our stores work with cobblers who can do it. Customers appreciate patina when a shoe ages well, and that comes from the craft and materials. If you cut corners there, you get wear instead of patina, and the customer notices.
If someone buys their first pair of Myrqvist today and is still wearing them twenty years from now, what would you hope those shoes have come to represent about their owner, their life and perhaps a more considered approach to consumption?
Massar Schneiter: That craft and quality have value, as opposed to constantly consuming and buying new. We would rather have a returning customer who expands their wardrobe where needed, and looks after and repairs their shoes, than win someone through a quick sale and never build a relationship.
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Words and questions by AW.
Answers courtesy of Massar Schneiter.
Source photos courtesy of Myrqvist.
