Amazing shoes of Turin

Shoemakers Cavallera, Sacchetti, Beltramo, protagonists of a century of fashion in Turin

Female shoes with decorative oval plaque (1923)Palazzo Madama

Female shoes with decorative oval plaque
1923

Born in 1882, Michele Beltramo has his Turin workshop in Corso Duca di Genova, today's Corso Stati Uniti. At the end of the Twenties he moves to via Santa Teresa 11, taking over the shop and the equipment of Hermann Sola, a manufacturer of sport footwear. Michele's son, Emanuele continues the father's business and wins an Academy Award for footwear in 1964.

the Cavallera's laboratory and a two photos on Palazzo Madama staircase the Cavallera's laboratory and a two photos on Palazzo Madama staircasePalazzo Madama

Bartolomeo Cavallera

Bartolomeo Cavallera, born in 1898, opened his workshop in Turin in Via San Francesco d'Assisi 26, just after the end of World War I. In 1935, his shoes already accompanied the fashion shows at Valentino’s Castle, but it was after World War II he made his own fortune. The shop moved to Via Pietro Micca 17 and Cavallera associated his name to the great Turin and Italian fashion. In 1948, his shoes were on the catwalk at Palazzo Madama’s gala along with Ferragamo’s. The following year, they were at Lido di Venezia, with Schubert's clothes and Rivella furs. Ava Gardner wore a special Cavallera creation for the film "The Barefoot Contessa", in 1954. Creative, Cavallera elaborated models and original decoration techniques, such as leather processing in dense colored stitching that create refined shaded effects. This technique was taken up and developed by Aldo Sacchetti, who was sold the workshop and the store by Cavallera in the second half of the 60s.

the Cavallera's laboratory and a two photos on Palazzo Madama staircasePalazzo Madama

Womens Mule Slippers part of Anna Maria Cavallera's nuptial trousseau. (1951)Palazzo Madama

Womens Mule Slippers part of Anna Maria Cavallera's nuptial trousseau
1951

The dense decoration of coloured quilting on the shoes' uppers, creating sophisticated colour grading effects, was conceived by Bartolomeo Cavallera and became a staple design characteristic of Aldo Sacchetti's craftsmanship in Turin. These slippers were part of Anna Maria Cavallera's nuptial trousseau.

Evening gold shoes (1960/1965)Palazzo Madama

Evening gold shoes
1960 - 1965

Shoes in golden leather with geometric inserts in contrasting leather.

Evening shoes with gold, topstitched leather straps (1960/1970)Palazzo Madama

Evening shoes with gold, topstitched leather straps
1960 - 1970

White leather court shoes with gold, topstitched leather straps.

Evening shoes in geranium hued leather (1960/1970)Palazzo Madama

Evening shoes in geranium hued leather
1960 - 1970

Sixties shoes in geranium hued leather, with plat leather straps. Spool heel.

Evening shoes (1960/1970)Palazzo Madama

Evening Shoes
1960-1970

Sacchetti SacchettiPalazzo Madama

Aldo Sacchetti

Aldo Sacchetti, born in 1922, began working in his father's shoemaker's shop and opened his own in Via Arsenale, Turin, in 1948. He entered the fashion world since the early fifties, with runway shows of young labels organized by Anna Vanner at Teatro Carignano. Soon the Alta Moda realized how talented he was and he started his collaboration with great Italian maisons for Florence and Rome’s catwalks. Outstanding inventor, Sacchetti invented new shoes models: the ballerina flats, profiled with elastic band, is his. He sold the patent to an American manufacturer. In the ‘60s, he invented a shoe made only of heel, for the designer Jacques Esterel, and one soles and heels, to better highlight the colored socks in fashion shows at Palazzo Pitti. Sacchetti conception combineed great technical skills and knowledge of materials. His mosaic-processed leathers is famous, jewel-studded shoes with rhinestones, crossed by ribs of gold and silver, produces in a traditional way with a few, experienced workers. When he took over the activity of Bartolomeo Cavallera and moved to Via Pietro Micca, at the end of the ‘60s, he had over two thousand forms in hornbeam wood, including those for Maria Callas, Audrey Hepburn, Queen Elizabeth. Aldo Sacchetti closed his workshop in 1993 and donated his works to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and to the Vigevano Museum of Footwear.

Two-tone court shoes (1950/1955)Palazzo Madama

Two-tone court shoes
1950 - 1955

Bicoloured putty coloured court shoes with tip (toe box), heel and folded insert in penicillin green.

Womens shoes without uppers (1965)Palazzo Madama

Womens shoes without uppers
1965

Shoes without uppers with special snap fasteners between the inside and outside of the sole that secure the tights. Created for the catwalks of Palazzo Pitti in Florence, the tips of the shoes reveal Florence's lily (fleur-de-lys). The coloured tights were fastened to a garter, visible below the hem of short dresses.

Wanda MaifrediPalazzo Madama

Former model Wanda Maifredi, protagonist of fashion in Turin between the 60s and the 70s

Evening two-tone shoes (1984/1985)Palazzo Madama

Evening two-tone shoes
1984 - 1985

Bicoloured emerald green and fuchsia shoes with ankle strap.

Fuchsia evening shoes (1984/1985)Palazzo Madama

Silk satin topstitched with gold thread, rhinestones fuchsia evening shoes
1984 - 1985

Shoes with ankle strap (1985)Palazzo Madama

Leather inlay with contrasting colours shoes with ankle strap
1985

Boot with contrasting trim (1980/1985)Palazzo Madama

Leather boot with contrasting trim
1980-1985

Boots (1990/1993)Palazzo Madama

Suede leather with trimmings in gold leather boots
1990-1993

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