Check These Out – The RetroStar Classic in Cognac

Anyone who has listened to me talk about football boots knows I have a preference for three things, small brands, all leather and classic style. In this case these brilliant RetroStar Classics tick all of the boxes.

When I first pulled these boots out of the box when they arrived my first word was “Amazing!” These boots feel like a dream come true. At first glance they look and feel like kangaroo leather but they are in fact made of elegant Italian calf leather (more on that later). The boots themselves seem like a very similar idea to Pantofola D’Oro, Ryal and Akuna. And maybe they are to a point. But the little things are what make boots different. The logo on the inside of the tongue, the suede on the heel lining (a personal favourite of mine!) and the absolutely gorgeous colourway, fittingly called cognac, and along with the wonderful smell help these boots ooze class. And of course being made from supersoft calf leather the provide a supreme comfort and touch on the ball.

The brand itself has very interesting backstory. RetroStar Classic was started last year by a German named Markus Stolla. Stolla was a footballer who played at a pretty decent level and always wore boots from the 70s (a favourite of his was the Adidas Ranger), and wears fashion items from the 70s. Even his apartment is decorated with furniture from the 70s! Whilst injury stopped him from playing at a higher level, he has already had an idea for introducing classic leather boots on the market. He noticed his teammates were starting to wear brightly coloured boots from Nike, Adidas and Puma which struck him as weird. So he decided to push forward the idea of making classic boots. So the question for him was where to get the leather from. Stolla had heard of a shoe maker near Lake Garda so he hopped on his old Yamaha motorbike and came back his newly created boots. This means of course that boots are hand made in Italy.

Stolla now travels around Germany in a custom van selling boots to different people directly and visiting football shops himself to help push his brand. This has lead to growing popularity for his boots. Stolla even has produced boots for a Bundesliga player!

The boots have a very similar likeness to George Best’s old Matchmaker Stylo’s. The reason for this is that George Best is Markus’ icon. To him, Best was the purist kind of footballer. And with this in mind he wanted to make the purist form of boots….ones that Best himself would approve of!

Size wise, the boots only come in European sizes 40 41 42 43 44 and 45. On the RetroStar website it recommended that I go with a 40 since I wear 7.5 (40 2/3) in adidas boots. This gave me a good fit that’s a little tight but since the leather stretches out it works perfectly.

So how much for these classy boots? They cost 149 Euros (around $198). So a bit on the expensive side for a classic boot but one is paying for exclusivity. The best thing around this brand for me though is the fact that it is run by Markus Stolla alone and to order the boots you talk to him directly. When was the last time any of you ordered boots directly from the owner of the company?

For me these boots are about as perfect as you can get. Well crafted, comfortable and excellent touch with the ball. Add that to that fact that Stolla continues to push his company froward, continues to improve the his boots as well as offering unique service and products that seem to become more rare these days making this brand a must have.

To get in contact with Markus, drop by his Facebook or visit the company website at www.retro-star.com.

Let us know in the comment selection below what you think of these boots!