With men (and women) raging against paying thousands for shoes which will be out of style in about 60 seconds, not mention having those 'styles' dictated to them by some poorly-dressed 'fashion guru', I doubt that bespoke shoes will ever go away. Then, with the Boomers hitting 60+, they're looking for something a bit more stable, stylewise, and their finally at the age where they may feel the desire for something to carry them through their golden years, and young turks looking for the status associated with bespoke footwear, this may become a flourishing industry.
BUT ONE THING MUST CHANGE!!!!! THEY MUST MAKE THEMSELVES MORE AVAILABLE!!!
I've constantly read on FNB that the reason for Brioni's prominence has little to do with their tailoring expertise and lots more to do with their constant and seemingly omnipresent advertising.
True or not, they damn sure know how to get your attention!
People my age could care less about the fact that those cobblers/chausseurs made shoes for...any number of DEAD people our grandparents never cared about. "What can you do for me" is the only question which concerns us. Nor are we enthralled with being condescended to(as others used to be, it seems). I'll never understand why some still believe that just because they've been around forever and overcharge for their product, that that somehow gives them the right to act like completely pretentious pricks. High horse urge fulfilled, I'll move on.
Not only is a web prescence necessary, so is magzine coverage. Since these are smaller companies, perhaps they can all go into ads as a group, advertising their services with web addresses and their most famous models on display, etc. It may not be much, but I think that it'll be a nice start...