Having a "strange" and atypical path, I wanted to share my story with you, of how I decided to become an artisan and how today my passion has become my profession.
A "family" affair
I was born and raised among leathers, mastic, shoe shapes, buckles, strange machinery, smells that characterized the family factory in which I wandered since I was a child. Those noises, which have always been familiar, accompanied my entire childhood and adolescence, a period in which I never imagined working in this very delusional environment!
“I will do anything else and I will also go from here!”, I repeated this to everyone. And in doing so, I chose to attend the Faculty of Economics and Commerce in Bologna. I immediately fell in love with this city, its arcades, the colors, the unmistakable atmosphere of the alleys. But as my studies drew to a close, I realized that something inside me was creaking. Is this really what you want? A little voice inside me told me that I would not be an accountant. No, impossible. I, who can't stand still for a minute, who have a thousand ideas on my mind, just couldn't see myself behind a desk between 740 and f24 models. My "call" was to a creative world, and perhaps the only answer was to my roots, in the historic company of my family. I realized that it is precisely there that I could find my way, giving a change to this business that had changed so much over time and had suffered from the great crisis in the footwear sector. But where to start?
The first Venus slipper
My eyes had always seen how a shoe is worked, that "working in the factory" even intensely was in my DNA, and this is how this bet was born. I decided to fine-tune my action plan with ... my degree thesis!
My research work was entitled "ANALYSIS OF THE COSTS OF A FOOTWEAR PRODUCT", thanks to which the first Venus slipper was born, the Sabrina.
I thought of everything: I designed the shape, I analyzed and explained the various stages of production, then the cutting, hemming, assembly, finishing, and I studied the costs. To complete this first Scarpetta, the orchid recreated with leather, the icing on the cake of an extremely tiring but satisfying job like few others.
I presented myself to the discussion wearing the shoes that I had made myself, then placing another pair on the committee table, identical. The professors were enthusiastic about it, I caught their sincere curiosity in the thousand questions they asked me, for which I was very prepared. Kind of like asking you about your family history, you can't be unprepared.
This was officially my entry into the footwear manufacturing industry as a protagonist.
In 2008 I sold my first model, the particular and comfortable Sabrina inspired by the 1950s dancer, the same one that Audrey Hepburn wore in "Roman Holiday"
Technique and creativity
From there, seeing how much interest my creations born so spontaneously generated, I expanded the models. Sabrina has been joined by Manhattan, Lord, Amsterdam and so on, up to the colorful collections so different that you can see and buy now online and in our stores.
To my creativity has been added the skilful hand of Gianluca, my brother, who manages to transform all the creations I design into reality. Technique and creativity are compensated and mixed every day, just like the ancient shops of the past!
Our story has just begun and we still have a lot to tell you, but we hope this first story has intrigued you!
