Joe Freshgoods' Candy Apple Loafer for Blackstock & Weber

Joe Freshgoods and Blackstock & Weber released the Candy Apple loafer, a red Italian patent leather penny loafer with a checkerboard etched across the toe, pink lining and a thick Vibram lug sole. It was set for sale online at 11 AM Central on October 23, with an in store release at Every Now & Then in Chicago on Saturday, October 24, in limited quantities.

The Candy Apple pairs a Chicago designer known for sneakers with a Brooklyn label that InsideHook credits with sparking the loafer revival, and a red dress shoe on a boot sole is a deliberate pairing of the two.

Red Patent Leather, Pink Inside, Lug Sole Underneath

The upper is red Italian patent leather, which is where the Candy Apple name comes from. A penny strap crosses the vamp. The checkerboard is etched into the toe, and on the pair photographed before release some of the squares show through in a lighter shade of red. The lining is pink, which only the wearer sees.

Underneath sits a Vibram lug sole, the kind found on boots. Patent leather takes a polish and shows every scuff, and a lug sole turns a dress shoe into a walking shoe. The loafer looks formal from above and plays rough from below.

That mix is the Blackstock & Weber template. Founder Chris Echevarria started the brand in Brooklyn in 2017 and named it for Blackstock Road and Weber Road, two streets he grew up on in New Jersey. He studied at FIT and worked under Mickey Drexler at J.Crew, according to profiles of the label. His loafers swap traditional hides for pebble leather, embossed croc, raw denim, pony hair and nappy suede, set on double stacked leather soles. InsideHook credits that thicker soled approach with helping start the wider loafer revival. The label has since added an apparel line called Academy, launched in November 2023, and worked with the hosts of the Throwing Fits podcast.

Harlem, Chicago Dance Floors and a Conversation From Four Years Ago

Freshgoods wrote the brief in his own words. The loafer is "Inspired by the art and expression of the Harlem Renaissance, the dance floors of Chicago, and the joy of getting dressed." The checkerboard reads as a dance floor, and the red reads as the dressed up part.

He also dated the project. "What started as a conversation four years ago between myself and Chris became a shared story about where we come from and what keeps us creating," he wrote, describing New York and Chicago "connected through art, music, and a love for the details." He closed on: "A little patience, a lot of persistence. We always figure it out."

Freshgoods is a designer and creative director from the west side of Chicago. His reputation was built at New Balance, where he had been collaborating since 2020 on shoes including the 992, the OMN1S and the 990v3 before the brand named him creative director of its Conversations Amongst Us campaign, which premiered in April 2022. He also had a brief stint with Vans, working on a trio of the OG Style 36 LX called Honeymoon Stage. A loafer sits outside a catalog that is mostly sneakers.

Every Now and Then Hosts the In Store Drop

The in store date sends the shoe to the concept space at 1843 W. Chicago Ave that Freshgoods opened in July after a two week soft opening. Selling there on a Saturday, a day after the online window, puts a New York brand's shoe in a room that belongs to a Chicago designer.

The year has been full for him. In August he sat down with Coco Gauff for New Balance's Pass The Peas conversation, an unscripted episode pairing the tennis player with the creative director. A store in July, a conversation with Gauff in August and a loafer in October make three Freshgoods projects in about four months, each in a different format.

For Blackstock & Weber the release is a collaboration with a creative whose catalog is built on sneakers. Echevarria has since been named creative director of Sperry's Made in USA line, and his own label now puts its name beside a Chicago designer who wanted a red shoe with a pink inside.

The numbers are small on purpose: limited quantities, one online window, one Saturday in store. A shoe built around patience and persistence was always going to be released that way.