Pacific Heights Artisan Leather Goods Shop on Fillmore Hill

Freda Salvador keeps its San Francisco store at 2011 Fillmore Street, and it is the most useful artisan leather goods shop stop in Pacific Heights for anyone who cares how a shoe is made. The brand says every style is made by hand in small batches, and its story begins in co-founder Cristina's family factory in El Salvador, where her grandfather started making shoes more than 70 years ago. Fillmore Street is the walk, and the hilltop at Broadway is the reward.

Fillmore is a street of finished goods rather than open workshops, so the craft here happened somewhere else before the pieces arrived. That is worth saying plainly. You will not watch anyone stitch a sole in the store. What you can do is handle work that the brand describes as made with old-world techniques and slow handwork, and judge it with your own hands in a calm room instead of through a screen.

The brand is clear about its materials. Most of its leathers come from tanneries certified by the Leather Working Group, an industry body that audits environmental practice, and its woven leathers are produced in Spain. Because each piece is finished by hand, the company notes that no two are exactly the same. When you compare two pairs of the same style side by side, small differences in the weave or the grain are a feature, not a flaw.

Shop for shoes in the afternoon, when your feet have spread a little from walking. That matters more on Fillmore than almost anywhere else in the city, because you will probably have climbed a hill to get there. Wear the socks or tights you plan to wear with the shoes, and try both feet. Most people have one foot slightly larger than the other, and a good fit starts with the bigger one.

Leather shoes made by hand usually give a little at the toe and around the instep after a week of wear, but they should never pinch at the heel or the widest part of the foot. If the heel slips, ask about a different size before you assume it will settle. A slight slip in a new boot is normal, but a heel that lifts out of the shoe with every step is not going to improve.

An honest piece of advice: skip woven leather if you need a shoe for heavy rain. The open weave breathes beautifully on a warm day in the Mission, but it lets water in far more easily than a smooth leather upper. Choose the smooth version if you commute on foot through the winter months.

Handmade leather lasts when it is looked after. Let shoes rest a day between wears so the leather can dry from the inside. Use cedar shoe trees if you have them, since they hold the shape and absorb moisture. Wipe off dust with a soft cloth before applying any conditioner, and use very little. Too much product clogs the surface and darkens light leather unevenly, which is hard to reverse.

Keep the box and any dust bag the shoes came in. They are the best storage between seasons, and they make it easier to bring a pair back for advice. If a sole wears through after a few years, a good cobbler can usually resole a well-made leather shoe, which is one more reason to buy fewer, better pairs and keep them in service for longer.

Start lower on Fillmore, south of California Street, and walk north past cafés and boutiques toward the store. Afterward, keep climbing. Alta Plaza Park sits just west of Fillmore between Clay and Jackson Streets, and its terraced steps on the south side look straight down over the city. Locals bring dogs, children and takeout coffee up here on sunny mornings.

From the park, continue north to Broadway and walk back to Fillmore. The block of Fillmore that drops toward the Marina from Broadway is one of the steepest streets in San Francisco, and the view down the hill to the bay is a classic city picture. If your legs still have something left, the Lyon Street Steps farther west along Broadway run down past manicured hedges to the edge of the Presidio.

On a weekday, Fillmore draws neighborhood residents running errands between the bakery and the bookstore, parents walking back from school pickup, and visitors who came for the mansions and stayed for the shops. In a shoe store here, you are likely to share the bench with someone replacing a pair they have worn for years and want again in the same style. That tells you a lot about how these shoes age.

Saturdays are busier and the sidewalks fill quickly, especially near the cafés. If you want time to try several styles without feeling rushed, come on a weekday afternoon. Combine the shop with a coffee and leave the hill walk for the end, when the light over the bay is usually at its softest.

Karpo APP can keep the afternoon in one place: tell it you want to try handmade leather shoes on Fillmore, then see Alta Plaza and the Broadway view, and save each stop to a shortlist you can follow on foot. It does not check sizes, reserve pairs or confirm what is in stock. Those questions belong to the people in the store, and they are best asked in person with the shoes in your hands.

The store is at 2011 Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights. The 22 Fillmore bus runs the length of the street, and the 1 California and 2 Sutter lines cross it. Wear the socks you plan to wear with new shoes, give yourself time for a slow fitting, and bring comfortable shoes for the climb to Broadway, since the walk back down to the bay is steep in both directions.