For a long time I thought about the theme of this new collection and I must also confess to you one thing: this was not the project I had before Covid19 and the quarantine. The isolation and the distance from my laboratory have mixed the cards on the table, changing my plans. We had also talked about it here, the emergency was changing our habits, leading us to reflect on every gesture.
So I chose to recover my time, in every sense. I recovered the memories and inspirations, and I intertwined them with the present, with new projects and with what I was experiencing. A mature and courageous collection was born, which I will tell you about in this article.
My Roots, my suspended time
You already know my story. I was born in this laboratory from which I am writing and in which I spend most of my days, I have taken on a difficult situation to transform debts and discontent into personal satisfaction, for me and for my family, who have always loved this craft. But my roots are not only here, within these walls, but also around. A little further on, beyond this factory, is the house where I was born and where my parents still live. There is my mother who raises chickens and my father who cultivates his vegetable garden and, between one building and another, the countryside. I just need to cross the threshold of the laboratory to breathe again, to enjoy the yellow of the fields in which we are immersed and the green of the hills that I see in the distance. It is the peasant civilization that I am firmly attached to, which reminds me of my grandmothers and my aunts and what I was like as a child. So looking at old photos, dusting off old samples found here and there, the first pencil sketches were born. I stole the markers from my daughter and started discussing the feasibility with Gianluca. We had to broadcast the love for the fact and the hand and the slowness in carrying out a delicate task: what could it be his visual expression?
The art of weaving, a hymn to rediscovered time
So we thought of a woven upper, born from the union of strips of monochromatic leather or of different colors, which created geometric patterns on the shoe. The effect was exciting already on our drafts, but I must admit that seeing it made on the samples was really exciting. This is how the first shoes were born: the Sambuco sandal, a little vintage, a little contemporary, a blend of inspirations that go beyond time and fashions - exactly what I look for in every collection. Three bands to hold the foot firmly, embellished by the detail of the weave that runs along the profiles, to which is added an ankle strap that often characterizes my models. Then the Jacob model, already present in other collections, but which today becomes even more characterized. This shoe combines simple but harmonious geometries, which combined with the game of weaves make this shoe the perfect synthesis between geometric rigor and fluid creativity. To make it unique, i clean cuts without seams and leather laces.
Soon after it arrived the White, the one that most reminds me of the women in my family. A ballerina with a dry and concrete style, with the upper entirely woven, with warm and welcoming colors. And then the closed shoes Downy oak is Olive tree, unlined, soft and extremely flexible. The peculiarity of these shoes is the great lightness, which makes them the ideal company for long summer walks.
Closed shoes do not end here; you can also find in the Radici collection the Serafina, comfortable and light, its simplicity is embellished by the details ofintertwining chain which runs along the profile of the upper and is then repeated on the heel, e the Greta, an absolute novelty. Its tapered shape follows the foot and follows its shape, while the charming neckline leaves the neck uncovered.
High or low, but always comfortable: of course, here are also sandals!
Certainly, in the new summer 2020 collection sandals could not be missing. You have already glimpsed some models in the bridal collection. The Anita and the Flora they are the ones that lend themselves to versatility: you use them for an important event or ceremony and easily reuse them under very simple linen trousers or even ankle-wide jeans.
New this year is the Nespola sandal, an open toe, one of those that let you see the toes in the tip. A balance of weights and shapes: on the one hand the square heel, wide and stable, on the other the thin strap that surrounds the ankle in a sensual way.
If, on the other hand, you don't love heels, you have two options: a middle ground, like the Carrot with a low and wide heel, or a low sandal, like the Fionarita or the Vanilla. What if I hate to show my feet? Don't worry, sandals can also have a closed toe! The Lola, for example, they are shoes with a double soul, that of the romantic dancer, complete with a strap around the ankle, and that of the summer sandal. It is a model that I often use in summer because it guarantees me stability even when I have to seriously run from one side to the other.
The pre-order and the new production method
What was an emergency production mode, due to the quarantine that prevented me from going to the laboratory every day just during the period in which I was supposed to make the samples, has become the opportunity to transform my production. Or rather, to always make it more like the idea I have in mind of the Scarpetta di Venere brand.
Years ago I decided to make leather shoes using materials that "high fashion" refuses, not for poor quality but for lack of quantity. We have made it a strength by creating limited series which are no longer played once finished.
This year came the idea of pre-order shoes, of which only the sample is made; at the time of purchase and based on sales, the different numbers will be made, but the series is still limited, a peculiarity of our handcrafted products.
This allows us to avoid wasting materials, streamline and accelerate production, contain costs and speed up processes.
Well, I've presented the ideas and the inspirations to you now I'm curious to know what you think! Write me at alice@scarpettadivenere.it and let's talk about it together.
