Inspiration and Process

Two years of research, a series of careful tests and a lot of patience: here is the recipe for a new collection that sees the light in 2021, the year in which regaining our time came spontaneously. Tinctoria is a hymn to slowness, to joy savored one step at a time, to diversity as the most authentic form of beauty. The new line currently includes three models made and dyed by hand. The processing requires patience: dyeing, drying, assembly and finishing involve a more complex process than the classic shoe, to arrive at a truly unique product, rich in artistic and expressive value. Each shoe has its own particular nuance: even when you compare two products of the same model, of the same color, you will never find a corner of leather that is identical to the other.

The dyeing herbs

Colors have always been part of man's life and have played a fundamental role in his evolution and in the development of relationships, with the environment and with other men. Natural colors are obtained from plants, flowers, insects, earths and minerals, just as they once did, when chemistry had not yet entered our factories. Their uses were handed down from generation to generation.

For our new collection we use dyeing herbs, which ensure amazing results and shades. Beauty is contained right here, in the infinite possibilities that derive from the same plant.

We used the Robbia, or Rubia Tinctorum, to obtain a warm and lively red; Walnut husk, or Junglans regia, for a particularly intense brown; the Reseda, or Reseda Luteola, for a poetic and luminous yellow; the Catecù, or Acacia Carechu, for earthy browns; Pernambuco, or Caesalpinia echinata, for a red ember. These are stable colors, appreciated and used since ancient times in dyeing shops.

Processing, color and dyeing

The Tinctoria line involves a longer manufacturing process but, as you know, beauty is waiting for you. The leather used is not that purchased already colored and finished from a tannery, but a “crust” format tanned with vegetables with tannins.

A crust leather is a raw material, which multiplies the creative possibilities. After the cutting phase, we proceed to the various color "baths", in different numbers depending on the pigment used. It's a magical moment, a bit like developing a photo in a dark room: you never know what you'll get until the process comes to an end and the result will always be different, albeit controlled. The next phase is that of drying, which requires attention and particular care; only with the absolute certainty of a definitive fixing of the color we proceed with the assembly of the shoe and the finishing. It is a long and slow process, of which I am proud: a true value chain that only those who produce in small quantities can afford - and this is priceless.