Salvatore Ferragamo fulfills every fashionisto’s wish with MTO (Made to Order), an exclusive customization program where—for the first time in the brand’s history—customers can personalize the house’s iconic men’s driver shoes. This system allows individual modification of Ferragamo’s drivers with 100 permutations of luxurious materials including crocodile, ostrich, condor calf and, suede mink and a myriad color options from ultramarine to flame red. As if that did not quench the thirst already, the brand offers personalized lettering options that complete the truly one-of-a-kind creation. This satiating launch of MTO commemorates the essence of the driver—personalization, inherent style, and idyllic destinations.
Image: Salvatore Ferragamo.
Such tribute is, thus, all the more fitting for the new Escape campaign, marking the next chapter of A Man’s Story, which celebrates creative minds that are not afraid to make their own rules. A century after its establishment in 1914, Salvatore Ferragamo has collaborated with innovative men including Douglas Booth and A$AP Rocky for the first #ManStory that encapsulates the “single-minded approach to life,” with which the label deeply identifies. This time around, Ferragamo enlists racecar driver Mathias Lauda, SoundCloud co-founder Alexander Ljung, and model Johannes Huebl to kickoff Ferragamo Escape, which celebrates iconic men renowned globally for their professional success and personal stylish lifestyles.
Image: Salvatore Ferragamo.
Now, you can join the list of the ultimate Ferragamo man with your own MTO driver.
Cole Haan’s Pinch Weekenders are now available in new colorways just in time for Memorial Day weekend. Whether you’re heading for the beach, a lake house, or hibernating at home, these shoes will be essential to your down time. Lightweight and constructed from relaxed materials, the styles have been updated for 2015 but still preserve the iconic 1950s silhouette. Ultra-flexible Grand.OS soles also increase the cushioning throughout the entire footbed for maximum comfort. Accented with a lobster logo as a nod to Cole Haan’s Maine roots, the Pinch Weekenders will make you feel like you’re still on vacation long after the holiday.
Image: Cole Haan
Image: Cole Haan
The new Pinch Weekender colorways are available onlione now.
Named artistic director at Berluti in 2011, Alessandro Sartori’s artistic vision can be seen in the story he portrays each season, capturing the classic elegance of menswear while adding a modern twist and evoking the spirit of the brand. Here he discusses Berluti’s Grande Mesure program and emblematics shoes, as well as essentials and trends that breathe life into timeless styles.
Essential Homme: Describe your personal style.
Alessandro Ssartori: My personal style would be a blend of traditional tailoring and modernity. There is a focus on construction, quality, and a novelty of materials that have an artistic touch. The artistic touch could be with proportions, colors, fabrics, and so on.
EH: Upon joining Berluti and helping to launchready-to-wear, what are your intentions for the house?
AS: My aim is to create a full universe where the shoes are the center and the silhouette is the focus as it’s being built. Berluti has a vocabulary already and we keep building from that while we think of the existing customer and want to extend. We want to complete the style and keep the language of the house to offer ready to wear for the customers who currently buy the shoes and waited for the ready to wear collection. I also want to tie in everything from the presentation to the shoes and clothes. It is not just the presentation to showcase the products but the location, the setting, the music, and the full direction of the brand and house is part of it all. We want to embody the collection into a format, a place, a situation, an ambiance.
EH: What do you want men to feel when they wear Berluti?
AS: I want them to feel unique, special, with a lot of character while respecting their comfort and needs. I want to give a strong style, a clear identity, a sharp masculine look but at the same time not transforming the man. I want to add something different and amend their style at best.
Image: Berluti.
EH: Who, in the past or present, embodies the spirit of the Berluti man?
AS: A lot of customers, ambassadors, and friends of Berluti embody the spirit of the house. Some friends of the brand include Pierre Casiraghi, Joshua Jackson, Jeremy Irons, and Maurizio Cattelan—all very nice gentlemen. What I like about them is that they are authentic—real men in their lives wearing Berluti’s clothes, ties, and shoes. They are artists in spirit projecting character, personality, attitude while looking impeccable, trendy, and stylish in their own unique way.
EH: Tell me more about the Grande Mesure program.
AS: The project of the Grande Mesure program was always in our brand route. We do the ready to wear collections with a small, unique handmade group of tailors and boutiques. As our ready to wear collection is already at a high level, we wanted to extend the bespoke service instead of made to measure. This process engages the customer with the tailors in taking their measurements, suggestions, ideas, fabric choice, lining choice, stitching, pockets, and everything else to be made into a pattern in paper. After hand cutting and hand stitching, the garment is crafted where at least three to four fittings is needed totaling to 72 hours—if it’s a jacket as an example. The full bespoke collection includes 25 pieces and ranges from trench coats, safari jacket, sports jackets, suits, tuxedos, shirts, jeans, chinos as well as shoes. It’s an intimate stage of customization and personalization combining traditional tailoring and modern designs. This service makes Berluti the first worldwide brand that offers a full “bespoke wardrobe.”
EH: With Berluti offering a full wardrobe service from the bespoke collection, how do pieces like chinos and denim benefit the modern day man?
AS: There is a combination of factors. First is the fabric and quality used for chinos and denim. The exclusive materials mixed with the handmade construction creates a one of a kind piece tailored specifically for the customer. It’s the product for you, made for you, and designed by you. When you wear it, you feel it. The difference in proportion customized to your body is a level of magic. As denim and chinos are everyday staples, comfort and product is exactly to your fit.
Image: Berluti.
EH: Why are the “ready-to-walk” shoes in your Emblematics line indispensable to a man’s wardrobe?
AS: They are timeless styles and products representing the history and innovations of the house. The designs are classic and unique in their own way varying from the cut, color, and material. The five styles encompass the modern man’s lifestyle interchangeable from work to social settings to leisure fun during nights and weekends.
EH: Which shoe style would you recommend as a staple piece for every man?
AS: The Andy loafer in tobacco. The more you wear it, the more beautiful it becomes. As it gets older, the soft leather takes the shape and size of your foot. This style can be worn with your suit, jeans, or my personal favorite, a classic three-button suit or custom brown chinos.
EH: How do you see “trends?” And how does that affect you when designing for the next collection?
AS: As a designer, I love them. But at the same time, I like timelessness. I like to build pieces that you can blend with your wardrobe. My collection blends between the modern trends and the previous seasons while keeping in mind color, design, fit, and silhouette. I want to expand [our customer’s] options—to blend the new and classics, and for these options to last many seasons. I design for my customer and his life.
Building off his father’s footwear legacy, Santoni CEO Giuseppe Santoni expertly walks the line between traditional technique and forward reaching style—in handcrafted leather loafers, of course.
EH: Italians have the historical reputation of being quality shoemakers. Where did that come from?
GS: In Italy, we have an important tradition of handmade goods in general. Our attitude towards handwork is very strong and has strong roots. This is also true for shoes—some districts are even dedicated to shoemaking, like [my family’s] region, the Marche.
EH: Have men’s perspectives on the importance of shoes changed throughout the years?
GS: Men have always been very keen to shoes, but [now] we are assisting to a clearer process: the growing importance of shoes and accessories in the definition of one’s style. [Today], men start with their shoes to decide their outfit.
EH: What can you tell about a man from the kind of shoes he wears?
GS: When you look at a man’s shoes, you really get an idea of the kind of person you are speaking with. [They] really distinguish a man’s taste level and the energy he has in doing things. When he takes great care in selecting and keeping up with his shoes, it’s noticeable. Clothing is important, but for many men—especially those in business—it’s hard to dress very different. With shoes you can really give a distinguished touch.
Image: Santoni.
EH: And what do your shoes say about you?
GS: For myself, I like double-buckle monk strap shoes or moccasin loafers—very traditional. [But I] wear many other types, because I personally test every Santoni shoe before it goes into production. I’m really a shoe fanatic, so I love it.
EH: More than any other garment or accessory you could argue that shoes need to be especially comfortable, since we’re on our feet a majority of the day. How important is comfort for Santoni’s shoes?
GS: It is important to have comfort in your shoes: to not walk around and have two weeks of back pain after only one day of wear. My father gave me the passion for details and quality, but he was most famous for his fit. Today, Santoni has a style specially made with a latex sole—100 percent pure rubber—that is a classic shoe, but feels just like a sneaker. We also use shell cordovan as a material. This leather has been specially treated with a traditional tanning process so that when you wear it, the heat of your feet regenerates the leather, allowing it to become softer and warmer.
EH: It seems to me that Santoni is tethered between heritage—in terms of craftsmanship and technique—and modernism, especially when it comes to design.
GS: We’ve created a mixture of cultures in the company. Still keeping the workmanship from my father and the workers that have stayed with the company for the past 30 to 40 years, I’ve added a very young and innovative team of designers from all over the world. We mixed these ideas to reinterpret our classic shoes in a young point of view. I myself am the balance between these two worlds. I worked the line since I was very young, so I know how to make the shoes, but I also know how to direct my team. I can put together the two elements of innovation and tradition.
EH: Do you think that balance reflects men’s taste?
GS: Our vision reflects the evolution of the market, and our goal is to combine classic and contemporary—or better, to make the classic contemporary and stylish. This is possible only if you offer a quality product, made by the rule of book, with an extreme, and maniacal attention for details, which I know really makes the difference.
EH: This sort of balance of tradition and innovation applies to your literal infrastructure as well. You’ve been able to transform the company into an environmentally friendly operation.
GS: I’ve remade the company in a very green way. We finished construction for our new offices in 2011 using 90 percent recyclable materials. Now, a “double skin” facade allows our building—which is completely transparent—to function as a real greenhouse during the winter months and as a solar chimney during the summer. We’ve been able to cut down energy by 40 percent. We also have solar panels on our roof and through their work, we actually produce more energy than we require. We recycle rainwater for our toilets and production use. We are sensitive to the environment, sensitive to the future, and we try to be responsible in order to protect the planet as much as we can.
EH: Santoni started as your father’s local workshop and is now an internationally known brand. It’s been said that one of the first stages in becoming a respected shoemaker is to “learn the shape” of the shoe. Where would you say you are today?
GS: When I started, the company was very small. We had maybe 15 to 20 people. Now the dimension of the company is a little bit bigger. We are very proud to still have complete quality and production control, but now we have about 400 people making shoes every day. The business is a bit more complicated. When you compare yourself to the global world, there become new stages of where to get to, and new challenges and possibilities for my family and me. This is my personal passion. I consider myself really happy now, because I’m doing what I always dreamed of doing.
EH: Which trends do you see in footwear for the future?
GS: A less-traditional division between classic and casual, and much more attention to details and quality. Value for money will be more and more important—even in high-end products—because people can recognize the true value of a product and are ready to pay if they are sure they are getting quality.
EH: Speaking of the future, what are you most excited about in Santoni’s upcoming spring collection?
GS: One of my favorite styles is the slipper with a double buckle. [It’s] a good example of how we combine a classic element, like the double buckle, to a very trendy shape. [Another] version—crocodile and colored by hand—is definitely a shoe for connoisseurs: super chic, effortless in the shape, precious in the material. This kind of combination is what we like, and what we can do very well! Or at least we hope so.
Here’s some killer new shoes! They’re made from red patent leather, are covered in small spikes and remind us what we all love, men and women, about Christian Louboutin. Walk away in them for $1395 by going here.
