A painter’s eye for shoes
- Daniela has an artistic background and trained as a painter
- She took over her master’s workshop
- Her shoes are bespoke
Nowadays, Daniela Ghezzo is one of the most internationally acclaimed shoemakers. She began to learn her craft when she was just 17, during a summer job in the workshop run by Rolando Segalin. She continued her craft while studying painting at the Venice Fine Arts Academy. Although she was a talented painter, at 24 she realised that an artist’s life was not her calling. “Too affecting, you have to get naked” she remembers and so she courageously decided to take over her master’s atelier. Since then, she has made handmade bespoke shoes for men and women, unique pairs created after studying the feet, posture and personality of her customers, also taking advantage from the Segalin forms archive, which dates back to 1932. Among her clients there are household names such as Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
INTERVIEW
Definitely and not only for aesthetic reasons: it has given me the three-dimensional vision of the space. That space is crucial to create shoes that are both comfortable and balanced. It’s essential to be able to see and draw proportions in custom made objects.
Technically, making shoes for women is far more difficult. There are countless models: an incredible variety of heels (from which the shoes depend) and styles. Also, for women there’s a deeper emotional investment in footwear a shoemaker has to deal with.
I like the three-dimensional aspect of the making the most: the assembly of the different parts of the shoe, first of all the heel. It’s the moment of truth. I also love it when a satisfied client comes back asking for a new pair of shoes.
I would say it’s understanding people. It’s fundamental to realise how to make them feel good. Feet need great attention because they are a global source of wellbeing: they have a deep impact on our back, teeth, head, posture, how we walk, sit, move and feel.
