Instead, we try to design timeless pieces which, because they may not be "in" today, stand a pretty good chance of being just as relevant 20 years from now.

Such a strategy has its pitfalls - for example, many shoe retailers are only keen to sell the new and the latest, which, if we were more into wholesale than we are, would make life difficult. 

However, we sell 98% of our shoes direct to the end customer and we've always found them to be likeminded... preferring the timeless over the transient. 

When we made our first design, it was a huge relief to find out other people liked it. That simple Bauhaus-inspired shoe (pre-war in its aesthetic, yet somehow refreshingly original) had been in my thoughts for years, and I was so happy to get it out of my brain and on to my feet! But that might have been the end of the story, had others said "yuck" or "well, you're happy, David, that's all that matters". 

(below, a picture of the 1st ever pair of atheist shoes, being made)

That's not to say we rest on our laurels. Every now and then we prototype something new and, if we like it well enough, we begin selling it... our chief innovation to date has been DAS BOOT, whilst there have been myriad experiments in colour and material. 

One of our latest is the following - a combination of our two chief materials - the classic nubuck, and our napa-soft benisa - in a tone-on-tone renovation of our core design that is (a) easy peasy to do, and (b) somehow a little more sophisticated... at least we think so. If you like these shoes, drop us a mail (hello@atheistberlin.com) and maybe we can make you some! 

Elsewhere, we've long been keen to put a heel on our boot, with a more traditional leather sole. So we made the boot below, with a classic 1940s cut and otherwise the same soft calfskin lining and rich upper leather of our DAS COGNAC BOOT. It's just our first attempt, but we're already smitten... so watch this space! 

Next on our 'to-finish' list, is a sneaker. We revealed this prototype as part of our recent EMPATHY SHOES Kickstarter video. And we're happy to say it's coming along nicely. The final prototype is in the works now and we may be ready to sell this geezer from November. 

Finally, this isn't really a departure in shoe design, but it's worth mentioning EMPATHY Shoes again. It's all about the sole, where we now have the ability to laser emboss ANY IMAGE YOU LIKE... from your dead cat, to Donald Trump's hair... ANYTHING. This feels like the future. A little bit. Well, more so than Donald Trump, anyhow.