Heir to his father Sergio Rossi’s unparalleled name and expertise in shoe-design, forty-year-old Gianvito Roosi’s love for shoes grew with him as a child while he played around leathers and heels at his father’s factory. Today, Rossi’s three-year-old label pays homage to Sergio’s teachings and his years at the Sergio Rossi label. Anything but usual, Rossi’s most avant-garde pieces still carry musings of Sergio’s classical style. “My father taught me that a real creation is timeless,” says Gianvito Rossi whose shoes are still produced in the family’s San Maoro Bascoli factory near Remini in Italy. Not one to leave heritage behind, he adds that “All the leathers are Italian, except for some exotic animal skins.”
Believing that shoes are the most intimate expression of a woman’s individuality, Rossi, a somewhat shy man, explains, “There are shoes that tower over a woman’s personality and she will collect them, but never dare wear them, whereas others will offer her a freedom to express herself.” He’s spot on. Many women will buy a loud collectors’ item pair of shoes, appreciate its artwork, and neatly tuck it into their professionally spot-lit shoe closet – never to be worn.
But the truth is that a woman just wants to wear shoes that make her feel beautiful – a notion that Rossi sees all too well into his collections. His pieces are made for the reality of new-age pavements and our fast-paced lives, while giving you a comfortable strut to your stride. “I don’t want to make theatrical shoes that prettify a woman’s closet. I want the shoes to prettify her as she wears them – her smile will reflect that,” says the Italian designer adding that, “A shoe is an accessory to a woman. Unfortunately, there are times when the woman becomes an accessory to her shoes. I often see the shoes wearing the woman and the woman falling victim to her shoes. Stilettos are there to empower, not to overpower.”
And while many curl their toes at the mere sight of his creations, Gianvito Rossi’s true prowess lies in his ability to enunciate the architecture of the shoe rather than just its design. “The deal-breaker factor relies on whether the sketch adds value to the woman’s silhouette and not just for itself. It’s the mixture of fashion and architecture; the architecture of comfort, heel, arch, angle and illusion,” says Rossi, whose latest Carbon Collection – an excerpt from the Spring-Summer/08 collection – is creating quite the stir.
Centred on the concept of ‘lightness in weight’ and not just ‘lightness in design’, this collection’s two millimetre carbon-fibre sole is accentuated by a delicate yet sturdy framework regardless of how elevated the heel is, “It’s about delivering a sensual, expressive, individual, feminine, yet powerful shoe in lightweight comfortable efficiency,” says Rossi fervently. The sexiest shoe within the Carbon Collection’s repertoire is the Gold Metallic and Black Leather Stiletto Sandal. This stiletto’s silhouette is so thin but intricately engineered, exuding the illusion that your feet are balancing on air.
The rest of Rossi’s collection takes on quite a comprehensive turn of heel, with patent leather as its core texture. In colours ranging from flashy turquoise to face-powder nude, Rossi introduces wedges, cone heels, ankle straps, hidden platforms, stilettos and peep-toe booteenies or ankle boots. He is also one of the first designers to give the hidden platform, a relatively new yet extremely sought-after heel, its deserved leverage this season. “This hidden double platform sole has picked up an audience enthusiastic for the mysterious power inside the shoe, and I see it grabbing quite a place in the coming collections,” he hints.
Preferring to keep his shoes simple, Rossi stays away from unnecessary embellishments, believing that “The concept of the collection is always shape, line and proportion rather than ornaments and décor.” It is refreshing to see heels made from material akin to mother-of-pearl prevalent in the 1930s and 1940s, “This mother-of-pearl gives a hint of magic, without suffocating the shoe with embroidery,” Rossi explains. Could we perhaps come across some crystal, Limoge de France, or even porcelain heels in the future? “We’ll see,” he chuckles.
After much prying, Rossi admits that his favourite heel is the dainty Stiletto. Painting his reasoning, “A shoe is an accessory to a woman. Unfortunately, there are times when the woman becomes an accessory to her shoes. I’ll explain: Take a beautiful tableau, if the frame is the heel and the tableau is the lady, a loud frame would overshadow the beauty of the tableau. It wouldn’t fulfil its function. I often see the shoes wearing the woman and the woman falling victim to her shoes. Stilettos are there to empower, not to overpower,” he illustrates.
Contacts
Gianvito Rossi
Milan, Italy
HYPERLINK "http://www.gianvitorossi.com" www.gianvitorossi.com
Gianvito Rossi
Saks Fifth Avenue
Riyadh, KSA
HYPERLINK "http://www.gianvitorossi.com" www.gianvitorossi.com
