HOW SHOES ARE MADE: A SNEAK PEAK INTO THE MAGIC OF SHOEMAKING

  • Handmade
  • Italian shoes
  • Craftsmanship
  • Shoe making

When speaking about handmade shoes, Italy and its long-standing tradition inevitably comes to mind. Let’s delve into the manufacturing process of handmade Italian shoes to better understand what makes them so special. 

When speaking about handmade shoes, Italy and its long-standing tradition inevitably comes to mind. In the age of fast-fashion, mass-production, and global trends, Italy is a place that is still permeated with ancient craftsmanship in leather goods and it presents the highest density of high-skilled shoemakers and manufacturers. Let’s delve into the practice of Italian shoes’ construction to better understand what makes them so special.

A quality handmade shoe undergoes a manufacturing process that can involve from 68 to 390 different steps: the precise number varies, depending on the selected production method, the shoe manufacturer, and the shoe style. Generally speaking, the process can be split in:

1 - Designing: Shoe models and shoe lasts are sketched to develop the design.

2- Shoe lasts are constructed. A shoe last is a wooden mold that simulates the human foot during shoemaking. It should provide the right shape and fitting, around which the shoe is crafted.

3 - Cutting: The single pieces of leather needed to make the shoe upper are cut and marked. These parts are either cut out by hand or using a laser cutter. This is a very delicate operation that only expert cutters can perform in order to select the most valuable piece of leather and to maximize its peculiarities.

4 - Sewing: The leather sections are assembled and sewn together to create the shoe upper and its lining – the parts of the shoe that cover the toes, the top and sides of the foot, and the back of the heel. Several processes take place in this stage, such as punching, gimping, side-stitching, hand-sewing and fitting eyelets for the laces.

5 - Assembling represents the core component of the shoemaking process as a number of different components and materials are put together to obtain the shoe structure. For simplicity, it can be said that the shaft and the sole are assembled into the finished product.

6 - Finishing: The final look of the shoe is created and it gets the finishing touches. The footwear is subjected to various treatments such as brushing and coloring through creams or natural waxes to restore the original softness and gloss to the leather. Moreover, strict quality controls are conducted to verify the final shoe meets the high standards of the so-called “Made in Italy”.  

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The importance of the materials


All this being said, even the finest manufacturing process is redundant if the raw materials are low in quality. This is why it’s indispensable to rely on high-quality leather to making a premium handcrafted shoe. In particular, Italian leather is the best for durable and smooth shoes, thanks to the quality of the base product, but also to the quality of the processing techniques. That’s why, if regularly treated with the proper care, Italian handmade shoes can even improve in appearance over time.

Focus on the assembly


This is the most articulated phase as it involves several steps carried out with the help of modern machinery, but also with the use of ancient tools belonging to the craftsmanship tradition. First, all the cut parts that constitute the upper and its lining, together with the reinforcements and supports, are assembled and sewn through an operation called hemming. The upper is then assembled to the insole and to the sole using different stitching methods. Finally, the structure of the shoe is born.