Nipped into a local shop today and saw Loakes dessies and an elastic-sided job that wouldn't disgrace IMO the famous Johnny Simons' shoe cabinet. Made in Northampton, too, unlike some of their other footwear. The young shop assistant assured me they were very 'preppie' and drew my attention to the 'crepe sole'. Not a crepe sole as we know it perhaps, from the excellent Chris_H posting, but all right. Sunshine evidently hadn't heard of Ivy, and didn't want to, such is the woeful ignorance of the contemporary gents' outfitter. About £140, I think.
http://www.herringshoes.co.uk is generally a pretty good source for Loakes in my experience...fast too
These may not be the same thing as they seem to be quite a bit cheaper. One of Get Smart's posts turned me on to this place. I've purchased some shirts and a few other things from them. I corresponded through e-mail with one of them about an order problem. An extremely nice guy, customer service was above and beyond a lot of US mail order I have dealt with.
http://www.jumpthegun.co.uk/product/Loake_Sahara_Desert_Boot_Sand
Well, yes, a crepe sole - although not the Playboy/Sanders-style crepe sole. I would say this shop is doing a nice little mark-up.
The sole looks pretty similar to the US companies that have done Made in wherever Playboy styles. GBX and RJ Colt.
Yeah, looks like synthetic rubber made to look like plantation crepe.