Hand Made Shoe Making Technology Handed Down From Hand To Mouth In Italy

Silvano women's shoes, on the wall of the Italy Federation of Italy shoes Association, is an oil painting of Italy painter MicheleCicoguna, "ascension day of Jesus". The medieval Venice Plazza San Marco is bustling. The stalls of the tailors and leathers are scattered around the square.

The most striking part is a small shoe shop on the lower right corner, where the young shoemaker is sitting on the stool and sewing his vamp.

"In ancient times, the residents of the Italy peninsula were the famous leather workers, so the earliest workshop of hand-made shoes also appeared in Italy.

For hundreds of years, this traditional shoemaking technology has been passed down.

Now, 60% of shoe factories in Italy are still using manual or semi manual methods to make shoes.

A.N.C.I., vice chairman of Italy Footwear Association, said Marco Remini.

Today, many traditional handicrafts are being put to the museum, mass production and scale become the key words in the business field. The 60% figure is really surprising. It means that the craft of shoe making is not only well preserved in Italy, but still has strong vitality.

The absentee of the industrial revolution is SilvanoLattanzi, a master of hand made shoes in Italy. His shoe factory is built on a hill in Marche, Italy, looking down at the large olive trees under the slope.

The workshop looked only more than 200 square meters, with only a dozen workers, similar to the imaginative handmade shoemaker workshop: the white - haired old shoemaker sat at the low wood table, the hammer, the shoe cone, the cutting knife, the studs on the tabletop, and the inverted brush in the corner of the corner of the table.

The whole room, except for the turntable with basic pmission function, can hardly find traces of modernization.

Time seems to have been stuck before the industrial revolution.

"Obviously, the industrial revolution has little impact on this area, or Italy's absence in the industrial revolution makes it possible."

Silvano said.

Since the invasion of the French army in 1494, Italy has begun to be invaded by foreign nationalities. Germans, Arabs, French, Spaniards and Austrians have all set foot on this land.

At the same time, the internal regime of Italy is also quite chaotic and always in a split situation.

When the final unification was completed in 1871, Italy's industry and Commerce had been extremely declining. Industrialization has not yet started. 60% of the population in the country is still a farmer, who stays in the stage of providing basic daily life needs by small-scale handicraft workshops.

At this time, Britain, Germany and other European countries have completed the first industrial revolution.

The handicraft workshop in Italy was largely preserved because it avoided the impact of industrialization.

"This is why the Italy family SMEs are flourishing in the future.

There are tens of thousands of shoemaking companies near the shoe factory, most of which are below 12 people. It is also unrealistic to promote mechanization on a large scale.

Especially in recent decades, the production structure is more subdivided, many small and medium-sized enterprises contract production process part of the need for large equipment. "

Kou Lijie, chief representative of Italy's Beijing shoes Association, said.

The workshop with technology against Silvano will produce about 20 pairs per day, and the average retail price can reach 2-5 yuan.

Silvano believes that this price is not just because shoes are made entirely by hand, but the cultural value behind this handicraft.

"The labor cost of Italy is relatively high, so mass production has never been the long term of the footwear industry in Italy.

About 5 years ago, cheap shoes imported from China and other Asian countries were widely integrated into the western market, almost occupying the whole low cost shoe market.

This situation makes us more determined that Italy shoes are in the high-end market.

A.N.C.I. chairman Artioli said.

Kou Lijie believes that the so-called high-end, not only good material, excellent design, but more importantly, craft.

And the craft of hand-made shoes is definitely a trump card in Italy, or even a signboard.

This view coincides with the promotion strategy of Italy brand TOD 'S. This luxury brand selling handmade leather shoes has always regarded Italy's hand-made craft as its selling point and put it on billboards.

"Just like people finally choose quartz watches and return to the love of mechanical watches. Today, more and more people are aware of the charm of handwork. In 2007, sales of TOD 'S shoes increased by 19.5%."

Diego Dellaalle, chief executive of TOD S, told DiegoDellaValle in an interview with the International Herald Tribune.

In addition, the Italy government has also implemented a tax reduction policy for handicraft enterprises including handmade footwear enterprises.

"The government of the Italy stipulates that the reduction of tax or exemption from capital and labor income and income from independent labor has played a significant role in promoting the development of handicraft industry. This is also one of the important reasons why Italy's handicraft industry can occupy a place in the world."

PietroFaralli, President of Italy chamber of Commerce.

From hand to mouth, "many people don't know what good shoes are, but they think it's just a job for people to make machines. They take longer time and are more elaborate."

They are totally wrong. Mechanized products only reach standards, while manual pursuit is perfection.

Silvano said.

Silvano's perfection means that he can make every step of a pair of shoes, such as making soles (with the sole of his feet).

"In addition to the quality of leather, the thickness will determine whether the sole is successful or not.

Even with the same leather, the thickness will not be completely uniform, so before starting any fine machining, the artisan will choose the right part by manual measurement, and the difference will not exceed 3 to 4 millimeters.

Silvano picked up a piece of leather from the workbench and made a downward movement. "Immerse it for 1.5 hours and then send it to the outside to dry."

24 hours later, this slightly wet leather arrived at the best time to set the shape.

Heat it up, let the leather slowly relax, to the appropriate degree, press it into the model and finish the finalize.

Only experienced shoemaker can find the right degree accurately. "

Silvano said, "therefore, the most important part of Italy's hand-made shoes is the experience handed down from generation to generation."

"Now, are there many people willing to learn this craft?"

"Look at that man," Silvano pointed at the young man sitting in the corner. "His name is Paolo, and my son is 27 years old.

He is the youngest shoemaker here. 6 years ago, I forced him to learn how to make shoes with the most experienced Shifu, because he wanted to take my class later and continue his family business. He didn't know how to make shoes.

But the craftsmen's children can have other choices. They can go to big cities as lawyers and doctors.

Although handmade shoemaker's wages are not low (around 1500-2000 euro / month), few young people are willing to spend time learning this fine craftsmanship.

Experienced hand-made shoemaker will be less and less. "

Silvano sighed.