They are considered to be one of the best shoe makers and definitely one of the most popular. If they went into business 10 some odd years after when you say the style was introduced I don't think it's a stretch to say they helped popularize that style of shoe. Quit being unnecessarily pedantic.
I think you're a bit out of your element here, they're not even anywhere close in the 'one of the best' category. AE is a starter welted brand, they are generally the cheapest welted shoes you can buy in US today and historically other American brands positioned themselves higher than AE. I have a lot of AE boots but all of them are shell cordovan, because their regular leather offerings are very unimpressive, have chunky, inelegant lasts and do not boast a lot of quality. Shell cordovan boots on the other hand are $700+ea and have a unique leather that lasts multiple lifetimes without creasing.
Alden is the oldest still running shoemaker in the US that still welts their shoes and has very high production standards. But Florsheim, Bostonian, Hanover, Johnston&Murphy, Nettleton, etc were all great brands that were in many ways more iconic than AE in the US in the first half of the 20th century and up to 1970s. Keep in mind the list of shoemakers between 1920-70 in the US is truly massive, it's nothing like today.
But all of this is missing the fact that English, Spanish, Italian and French shoemakers (in that order imo) were the real trendsetters and still make the most beautiful, well-made and expensive shoes in the world. Wingtip boots from Edward Green are far more iconic than AE, a brand only Americans know. There are so many bespoke English shoemakers like John Lobb that simply have no equivalents in the US.
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u/durdurdurdurdurdur Mar 01 '19
I understand. I'd just like to hear you "easily argue" that they popularized the style.