‘My staggeringly expensive yacht is outside’

“The chain was no longer operating, so the anchor was no longer working. The steering column broke, and as we entered the port on Lipari the engine gave out. It was absolutely extraordinary. But we kept our calm in the best way possible. Afterwards we had a good lunch at a little fish restaurant I know.”

Film producer, publisher, onetime restaurateur and bathing costume creator, brand strategist, entrepreneur, raconteur and flâneur Charles Finch is doing one of the things he does best: holding forth. Soberly clad in a Neapolitan tailored double-breasted blazer, with white shirt and dark tie, this snowy-haired 62-year-old has his audience, namely his business partner and me, spellbound, virtually transporting us from a dreary autumn afternoon in a west end fashion showroom to the Mediterranean.

He is explaining how he came to launch specialist deck shoe brand Équipement de Vie, a project born out of summers spent sailing around the islands of the Aeolian on Gael, his chic 1962 sailing yacht.  

Finch lives life as if he were the protagonist in a never-ending Slim Aarons photo shoot, so his is not just any classic wooden hulled yacht. “Previous owners include Count Alberto Marone Cinzano. Of the drinks family,” he adds helpfully, before plunging into another anecdote about inadvertently sailing into a small cove used by the ’Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia. “It all looked very pretty with calm seas. And then these guys in a little boat chugged out towards us, and let me tell you, they weren’t dressed as mariners at all . . .” His voice trails off ominously.

But what should mariners wear? One afternoon in the summer of 2022 he was discussing maritime apparel with his captain, who complained that he was unable to find good footwear, especially for competitive sailing. As luck would have it, one of the guests on board happened to be the onetime owner of Penfield and the former head of Vans in Europe, Jamie Barshall. A man who had spent much of his working life in sports footwear.

Two and half years and approximately £1mn later the two friends are launching sailing shoe brand Équipement de Vie. The launch product is a shoe named after Gael’s former captain Nat Lemieux. It is all “high-grip” this, “anti-slip” that, and “optimal traction” the other. There is a nifty heel pad for sure-footed winch button operation while racing and the sole has special drainage channels.

Barshall researched the market and found that there was no shoe that did all he felt a sailing shoe should. “I think the closest thing would be what Prada did with its America’s Cup Re-Nylon and Bike Fabric series . . . That’s a super product in terms of how technical it is, but it’s also incredibly expensive. It’s almost £900. Whereas we have come up with an incredible product that has raised the bar in terms of technical ability and proficiency at £155. And the shoes have been tested by some very, very able yachtsmen around the world.”

The look is normcore tech bro. Functional nautical detailing, such as the winch button heel pad, impart the impression of having left one’s staggeringly expensive sailing yacht moored outside: not a bad flex for the money. The fact that one of the first stockists was Porto Ercole’s swanky hotel Il Pellicano tells you all you need to know about the target market.

And for those who are largely ignorant when it comes to sailing, such as yours truly, there is an Après/Lifestyle collection in suede and leather. Although these shoes made my feet look wider than I would have liked they are extremely comfortable, while still boasting the full technical capabilities.

I may not know much about sailing, but I do know Finch: in the noughties we launched a quarterly newspaper than ran for five years, so I am not surprised that, after Barshall’s technical disquisition, Finch guffaws and announces that one of his favourite features of the shoe is its edibility. “Because of what it’s made of, should you get shipwrecked you can actually eat the midsole,” he says. There is a kernel of truth: the midsole is made using 35 per cent sugarcane, among other sustainability efforts including upper fabric and hot melt (additional reinforcement) elements made from recycled materials.

Son of actor Peter Finch (who received a posthumous Academy Award and five best actor Baftas), Finch is famous for his “The Night Before Bafta” parties where, every February, he gathers the cream of the movie industry on the eve of the film awards ceremony. Although not officially linked to Bafta, the party and a similar Oscars dinner in Los Angeles, both supported by Chanel, have become a social and cinematic landmark.

Mention of the French brand immediately triggers an anecdote relating to his first meeting with Karl Lagerfeld. “He was sitting in front of me on a plane. I was a young filmmaker making this movie called Where Sleeping Dogs Lie. Sharon Stone was in the movie, and as usual, we had no money. So, I tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘Listen, my mother was a client of Chanel.’ Frankly, I had no idea how big a client she was, but we started talking, and I said, ‘I’m making this little movie.’” Finch’s charisma did the rest. “He said, ‘Call my office. I’ll take care of it,’ and he gave all the clothes for Sharon Stone in that movie.”

We live in a world where loud has been embraced, both in fashion and in design, and of course politics. Whoever shouts loudest gets noticed more

Over the course of his life Finch has been many things, among them film director, film producer, and head of international motion picture at talent firm William Morris Agency, before its merger with Endeavor. In 2010, he launched a lifestyle brand called Chucs Dive and Mountain Shop and a bijou restaurant called Chucs Bar and Grill, which subsequently expanded. Chucs Dive closed in 2020 and he sold the majority stake in the restaurants in 2014 to Oakley Capital. Currently Finch is founder and CEO of marketing and investment company Finch & Partners, which offers talent endorsement, develops brands and represents entertainment companies, luxury brands and property groups. Today it is run mainly by his cousin Claire. While “putting movies together is harder than it’s ever been”, he continues to produce films, as cinema remains his passion, he says. “Every film is a new adventure, a new painting and business all in one.” He also publishes film magazine A Rabbit’s Foot. And now he is a partner in a nascent marine sports footwear brand.

His CV may be varied, but if there is one constant besides film, it is his appreciation of the better things life has to offer. He demonstrates how his double-breasted blazer can be buttoned up to the throat when he is riding his Ducati Monster or his 1950s Moto Guzzi. Next, he pulls a lengthy yellow gold-and-white metal key chain from the pocket of his grey worsted trousers. It was designed for him by Codognato and as well as keys has lucky charms: a gold rabbit’s foot made for him by artist Suzy Murphy, a piece of meteorite and a gold penknife. “That was given to me by Agnelli,” he says casually.

Mention of the late Fiat head Gianni Agnelli prompts a moment of nostalgia for an era of vanished elegance. “I don’t like change,” he says. But he is also a realist. “In my opinion we live in a world where loud has been embraced, both in fashion and in design, and of course politics. Whoever shouts loudest gets noticed more.”

It is clear that although he has leveraged this brand power himself, Finch finds the overtly transactional nature of some brand-celebrity partnerships distasteful. Nevertheless, he is endlessly enthusiastic about his latest start-up, Équipement de Vie, and this almost Micawber level of optimism is part of his charm.

We have been talking for a long time. He glances at his battered Rolex GMT Master and gets up quickly. “Christ, I have bored you long enough, I’ve even bored myself. I’ve got a dinner to go to.” Something tells me that if grilled sole is on the menu, it will not be coming from the bottom of a sports shoe.

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