It is very appropriate to wear a pair of Artioli shoes to a business meeting, especially if one is meeting with Americans. They have a really good eye for recognising the brand and immediately develop an infinite respect for the owner of Artioli footwear. And so they should, because even US President George W Bush orders shoes from Vito Artioli, one of the most expensive footwear designers.
A pair of regular Artioli shoes costs €500- €600, but the price can double if the shoes are made of alligator, ostrich, lizard or shark. Exclusive as they are, Artioli shoes retain the traditional elegance going well with any suit or tuxedo; the wearer is bound to attract admiring looks from everyone around. Shoes reflect one’s frame of mind, according to Andrea Artioli, a grandson of the company’s founder, a third-generation master craftsman and the current CEO of the family business.
While production is run along traditional lines, methods have improved and been perfected with advancing technology, while at the same time retaining the high degree of craftsmanship needed for the perfect shoe. Artioli shoes can be custommade on request, which is probably the reason why they are preferred by most sophisticated and successful men – top government officials, politicians, diplomats and celebrities.
Apart from George Bush, Artiolis are worn by George Clooney, Robert de Niro, Michael Jordan, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A few decades earlier, they were the choice of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Frank Sinatra and Marcello Mastroianni. Isn’t this list a perfect guarantee of their quality? Salvador Dali once visited our factory in Tradate, Vito Artioli told Business Mir.
Many celebrities wear our shoes, largely thanks to those who market them.
We concentrate on quality, elegance and wearer’s comfort.
What is the secret of the Artioli shoes’ success and popularity? First, shoes must be comfortable, that is, they should follow the anatomy of the foot, which varies from nation to nation. Russian men often have wide feet. They are often thickset and sometimes flatfooted. We take all these details into consideration when selecting the best shoe-last. The second component of our success is the “breathing” material we use, which is the result of in-depth research and innovation.
With modern technologies at hand, we can tan almost any type of hide, including traditional ones as well as exotic hides – elephant, crocodile, camel, ostrich, lizard and even fish (carp). The leathers then should be dyed delicately, which we do manually – in fact, like most of the other shoemaking operations. Making one pair of shoes involves 180 to 200 operations plus a long series of treatmentswith creams and waxes and the finishing touches.
Who designs your models? I design all models myself. I started doing it when I was 13 or 14, and my designer’s collection now includes 70,000 models.
Being the president of the National Association of Italian Footwear Manufacturers (ANCI), you must know better than anyone else the situation on the European and world footwear markets. What is going on there in the current globalisation context?Who sets trends?What problems do you have? In the 1950s and 1960s, shoe fashions were created and trends were set by the manufacturers. Later, however, massive commercial advertising took over the formation of tastes and styles.
The United States is a clear leader here, of course, turning everything into a mass consumption product.
It is common knowledge that not all products that are broadly advertised are of high quality. Luckily, there are people still who are able to appreciate individual style, quality and aesthetics, despite the enormous flow of mass consumption products flooding the global market. It is for them that we work; it is for them that we uphold the best traditions of Italian shoemaking.
The Italian footwear industry has probably been hit by globalisation harder than any other branch of the economy. Footwear stores in many countries are filled to capacity with cheap but often low-quality stuff, mostly produced in China. The demand for high-quality, even though expensive, Italian shoes began falling.
However, it looks like the hardest period is over: exports have stabilised, and the contracts we fulfil even began growing in money terms. This is important, because it shows that by emphasising quality we have successfully met the challenge of a China whose huge advantage is the abundance of a cheap workforce.
On the other hand, we are now aware that the low-price segment of the footwear market has been closed to Italian manufacturers.
Could you tell us about your family history? Is it true that your father, Severino Artioli, declined Mussolini’s order for a pair of shoes and had to flee fascist Italy then? My father, Severino, was indeed the founder of the family business. Born in 1905, he became attracted to shoemaking while still in elementary school. He spent his spare time learning the craft from a local shoemaker in the town of Ferrara and was recognised as a gifted artisan from very early on.
Despite this, it was not until 1945 that he finally managed to break away from employment by others to open his own factory.
The Mussolini story is more of a legend.
During the war, my father worked at a factory in northern Italy that manufactured footwear for the army. English prisoners of war were among the factory workers.
In September 1943, when Italy pulled out of the war, my father helped some of them to flee to Switzerland, and almost paid with his life for that. He was saved by his recognition as a good craftsman.
I began “inventing” shoes at 13, and was helping my father in the late 1940s. Then I went to study in America. Back home in Italy, I turned to shoemaking full time.
Today, my son Andrea is carrying on the family tradition. In addition to shoes, we now make leather slippers, especially custom-made for Middle East customers, as well as gloves, belts, leather jackets, briefcases and luggage.
The company has outlets in a number of countries, including Russia, Switzerland, the United States, Ukraine and in the Middle East. Our products are also marketed in large shopping centres, which sell elegant garments and footwear. We are also expanding cooperation with foreign partners through franchise programmes.
Vito Artioli has three grandchildren. They are too young to join their father and grandfather in the shop yet, but there are no doubts about what they will do when they grow up. The Artioli family believes in continuity of Italian manufacturers’ traditions, where the son always inherits the family business from his father.
