In 1936, G.H.BASS introduced the Weejuns®, a loafer destined to become one of the most recognisable silhouettes in American menswear. From Ivy League campuses to music stages, from tailoring to more relaxed looks, the style has endured for decades without losing its distinctive character.
In 2026, as G.H.BASS celebrates its 150th anniversary and the Weejuns® turn 90, the American shoemaker has chosen Hast for its first collaboration with a French brand.
For this collaboration, we worked with the Larson Penny Loafer, one of the range’s signature styles. Our intention was not to alter its silhouette, but to make a subtle change to the leather: smooth leather paired with grained leather panels, in deep black and chocolate brown.
1876, 1936, 2026
The story of G.H.BASS begins in Maine in 1876, when George Henry Bass starts making shoes with a simple idea: to design each style around the way it will be worn.
Sixty years later, in 1936, the shoemaker introduces the Weejuns®, inspired by slip-on shoes worn in Norway. Their name plays on that origin, with “Weejuns” derived from “Norwegian”.
The loafer quickly finds a natural home on America’s East Coast campuses. In the 1950s and 1960s, Weejuns® become inseparable from the Ivy League aesthetic: chinos, Oxford shirts, blazers and penny loafers make up a wardrobe that is both smart and relaxed.
Students in particular develop the habit of slipping a coin into the cut-out in the strap across the upper, helping to establish the name penny loafer.
What follows belongs as much to fashion history as to the history of G.H.BASS. The loafer gradually leaves the campuses, moves through offices and then into different music scenes and countercultures. In 1982, Michael Jackson notably appears wearing black Weejuns® at the start of the Thriller video.
The shoe remains much the same; what changes is how it is worn.
In 2026, G.H.BASS celebrates its 150th anniversary. The Weejuns® turn 90.
From the Ivy League to music scenes and contemporary wardrobes, this history speaks above all to its enduring appeal: a design adopted by very different generations without losing its identity.
What makes a Weejuns®
Behind the Larson’s apparent simplicity lies a carefully considered construction, several elements of which have been part of the Weejuns® for decades.
Each pair begins with hand-sewn moccasin construction. The upper is assembled by hand to create the visible seam that follows the contour of the foot and is imtely recognisable as part of the design.
At either end of the strap are the characteristic seams known as beefrolls. The leather is gathered there to form the small cylindrical shapes that define the shoe’s upper.
At the centre sits the Whale Tail Penny Keeper, the Larson’s signature strap. Its whale-tail-shaped cut-out has become one of the most recognisable details of the Weejuns®.
Underneath the shoe, Blake stitching joins the upper directly to the leather outsole. This construction contributes to the slim silhouette and also allows the shoe to be resoled when needed.
The heel has a rubber insert to reinforce the areas subject to the most wear while preserving the line of the leather sole.
Our Larsons are made in El Salvador using this traditional construction.
In other words, a great deal goes into a shoe that, at first glance, looks remarkably simple.
And it was precisely that simplicity we wanted to preserve.
G.H.BASS x Hast: changing the leather, not the silhouette
In developing this collaboration, we started with a version of the Larson that already explored contrast and texture on the upper.
The idea appealed to us. We chose to offer an interpretation closer to the Hast wardrobe.
Rather than changing the style’s lines or adding a decorative element, we brought together two expressions of the same material: smooth leather and grained leather.
The smooth leather retains the Larson’s familiar clean lines. Grained leather panels accentuate certain parts of the shoe, adding subtle texture.
The penny loafer’s strap also uses this grained leather, carrying the contrast across the top of the foot.
We deliberately stopped there.
From a distance, the silhouette is instantly recognisable. Up close, the difference in grain and the way the two surfaces catch the light give the style new depth.
The aim was not to redesign the Larson, but to shift its character slightly through the leather.
Two colours, two takes on leather
The collaboration comes in two shades: deep black and dark chocolate brown.
Black
On the black version, the contrast comes almost entirely from the textures.
The smooth and grained leathers share the same depth of colour. It is mainly their texture and the way they catch the light that reveal the panels.
A particularly restrained interpretation, as natural with jeans as it is with pleated trousers or a suit.
Chocolate
Chocolate brown offers a different take.
The depth of colour brings out the variations in texture between the two leathers more clearly. The grain adds texture while keeping the palette easy to work into a wardrobe: ecru, denim, gray, navy or various shades of brown.
Two colours, then, but one idea: let the leather distinguish the style without altering its balance.
A shoe made to be worn
There is also something about the philosophy behind the Weejuns® that particularly resonates with us: this shoe is not made to remain pristine.
Leather changes over time.
It gradually softens, moulds to the foot, develops slight creases where it flexes and takes on its own patina. A pair worn regularly thus acquires a character quite different from a new pair.
The Larson’s construction lends itself to this evolution.
Its leather outsole can be replaced thanks to Blake stitching. When the first sole reaches the end of its life, the shoe itself need not be finished.
It is an approach to clothing we share: making pieces to be worn, for long enough that the material begins to tell part of their story too.
From jeans to suits
The Weejuns® owes its longevity in part to something quite rare: it never belongs entirely to a single dress code.
Its Ivy League history places it naturally alongside chinos, an Oxford shirt or a blazer. But over the decades, the same loafer has been worn with jeans, loose trousers, suits and much freer looks.
With pleated trousers or a suit, the Larson lends a slightly more relaxed feel to formal dress without upsetting its balance.
With raw denim or chinos, its American heritage comes to the fore. A shirt, a work jacket or textured knitwear is then all it takes to bring it into an everyday wardrobe.
That is probably one reason its silhouette dates so little: the Larson changes less quickly than the ways people wear it.
G.H.BASS x Hast
For this first collaboration with G.H.BASS, we chose to work with what was already there rather than against it.
Keep the Larson silhouette.
Keep its construction.
Keep the details that make a Weejuns® recognisable at first glance.
And make changes only where they felt right to us: in the leather.
Two leathers, one smooth, the other grained. Two colours, black and chocolate. A subtle variation on a shoe created in 1936 and still worn 90 years later.
G.H.BASS x Hast: Larson Weejuns® in black and chocolate leather. A limited edition, available on hastparis.com, in our stores and in a limited selection on the G.H.BASS European website.
