I don’t want to tempt fate or equally the wrath of mother nature here, but summer, or even, warmer more timely weather must surely be only round the corner now. So we can finally put away our winter warmers for at least, please, a couple of weeks. Now to mark this long awaited climate change, the French luxury footwear house, JM Weston, have taken advantage of it, to slip away on a stylish and sporty getaway, travel naturally takes on the aura of seaside elegance, not not Blackpool or Bognor no. Michel Perry, the house’s artistic director, has taken himself and his imagination off for a stroll along the French coasts of the twenties, in search of the holiday destinations bustling with the Parisian jet set. His drawing pad intuitively came to rest in the Basque country, where he has chosen to let his pencil wander in step with his meanderings through towns and countryside.

Think stylish gentlemen in, tasteful, golf attire, lashings of fresh seafood and the best champagne, countesses at the races and fishermen at sea, village frontons or Art Deco villas, the Basque country clearly comes to the fore in J.M. Weston’s world.  Two models have been born of this impromptu getaway: a tennis shoe and a soft ankle boot, by the name of “Guéthary”.

Perry’s most striking nod to the Basque Country lies in the addition of a natural woven cord around the sole of some of the footwear, in reference to the famous “espadrille” traditionally worn by the region’s chic residents. These models, all of which are mounted on a leather sole of the finest quality.