The traditional shoe making of the Riviera

An important attraction for shopping is the production of high quality shoes by master craftsmen of the Brenta Riviera. This local craft dates back to the 13th and 14th century when Venetian aristocrats used to spend their summer holidays in the Riviera and took along their “calegheri”, their own personal cobblers, which founded a guild of shoemakers in Venice in 1268. A craftsmanship turned into a small industrial enterprise today, in the perpetuation and modernization of the knowledge of medieval guilds, with a production of excellence acquired by the most important international brands.

Located in Stra, Villa Foscarini hosts the Shoe Museum (www.museodellacalzatura.it). Here you will discover more about the Rossi family and how they developed their business, but also about the top designer brands they work closely with. A visit to the museum will be an incredible journey through Rivera’s timeless shoemaking traditions and the evolution of fashion styles over the past 70 years. The museum exhibits over 1500 pairs of footwear dating back to the second half of the 20th century up until modern days. The exhibition aims to show how the sense of style and fashion has developed thanks to big names such as Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Ungaro, Givenchy, Anne Klein, Genny, Fendi, Richard Tyler, Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, Porsche Design, Christian Lacroix, Emilio Pucci, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Loewe, Kenzo, Donna Karan and Celine. Not only designer brands, but also unique Venetian footwear will take you back in time.

In the Riviera del Brenta, a centuries-old manufacturing art has become an economic engine and cultural identity. World renowned for the production of luxury shoes, the footwear district brings together in
a complete supply chain more than 550 companies and it employs over 10.500 workers. In 2018, its turnover reached 2.1 billion euros and its production exceeded 20 million pairs, 92% of which was allocated to foreign markets.
“Its genesis dates back to 1898 when Giovanni Luigi Voltan, who learned by experience in the United States, gave birth to the first industrialized complex in Italy – explains the President of Politecnico Calzaturiero, Mr. Franco Ballin -. With the introduction of new equipments and innovative work organization methods, the first real technological leap took place. Since then, our SMEs network has been investing in education and training. Every year – he concludes – over 300 young people and 1000 employees take part in the Politecnico courses, which has been representing for almost a century the technology transfer structure of the Riviera del Brenta footwear district”.

The footwear production in Rivera del Brenta fully developed in 1898, when the first shoe factory with an automated conveyor was founded by Giovanni Luigi Voltan, who learnt the cobbler’s craft in the US. Calzaturificio Voltan was the initiator of Stra’s shoe-making revolution as it became an example for the over 500 entrepreneurs that learnt the trade and opened their own businesses after Calzaturificio Voltan was founded. The uniqueness of Brenta’s shoe-making craft is that almost all biggest luxury names create and manufacture their shoes in Riviera del Brenta’s factories. The specificity of the Brentan sector stems from the fact that almost all of the “designer” shoes present on world markets are almost entirely produced – but largely co-designed and marketed – by shoe factories on the Brenta Riviera. That’s why, in the entire coastal area, you can easily find outlets and shops that offer the opportunity to buy important footwear at advantageous costs.

Buying well and cheap is always a business and a good complete purchase always a travel experience. On the Riviera del Brenta the highlight is the shoe and the laboratories are distinguished by quality, accuracy, refinement, attention and care in the processes of processing and are chosen by the big brands for the production of exclusive and high quality products level; here you can find many opportunities which will make the shopping experience unique. But the fashion shoe also carries clothes, bags and accessories of great fashion and is rich in the offer of various outlets that dot the Riviera, where very high quality and luxury go hand in hand with savings.