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

Born in 1898, Bartolomeo Cavallera opens his workship in via San Francesco d'Assisi 26, right after the end of World War I. In the thirties he takes part with his footwear in the high fashion shows at the Castle of Valentino in Turin. Following WWII he moves to via Pietro Micca 17 and begins working for the great fashion houses of Turin and the rest of Italy, under his own name. His shoes take part in fashion shows alongside the creations of Ferragamo, whilst in Venice at the Lido they are presented together with dresses by Schubert and furs by Rivella. In 1954, Ava Gardner wears a pair of shoes created specially for her film 'The Barefoot Contessa'. Highly creative, Cavallera develops new decoration techniques, such as the processing of leather with dense coloured topstitching, creating gradient effects. This technique is then revived by Aldo Sacchetti, who buys Cavallera's workshop and archives in the second half of the Sixties.

Cavallera workshop