Step by Step, A Brief History of Shoes

Anecdotes And Pills About Footwear, My Best Friends

It is difficult to establish exactly when footwear was born in human history. Initially, it was made with perishable materials such as animal skins or wood, it had the purpose of protecting the foot and therefore no historical finds documenting the first "models" have come down to us. Fashion related to footwear developed strongly with the beginning of the modern age in the 16th century through the circulation of some graphics that brought to mind the style of known populations. This phenomenon consolidated during the 19th century thanks to some findings from past ages and so fashion began to take inspiration from such artefacts. Research in this sector also began in this period through the contribution of sciences such as anthropology, psychology and sociology that study fashion. It was in the 1900s that footwear acquired a very significant influence and position in fashion and in the early years of the century inspiration from the Art Nouveau style took hold, characterized by romantic and candid elements with elongated toes and the footwear took the form of ankle boots and décolleté . In the years preceding the First World War, the fashion for the "Louis" heel spread, recalling the extravagant and at the same time refined rococo style developed in France in the 18th century. Between the two wars, Italy began to create its own fashion that could distinguish itself from the French one and become independent. We would like to highlight two prominent people who contributed to giving a strong push to this project, Lydia De Liguoro and Fortunato Albanese. The former had founded a magazine in 1919 dedicated to fashion and costumes. Despite being a glossy magazine, Lydia discouraged the purchase of excessively expensive clothing and footwear as there was a widespread belief that due to the economic crisis it was not responsible to buy luxury products. It had to revise its position some time later due to concerns from industrialists who feared that the sector could suffer further. Fortunato Albanese proposed to the Ministry of Industry the project relating to the creation of a national institute for fashion. After the Second World War, France established itself as a leader in the sector thanks to Coco Chanel who implemented an important transformation of the concept of femininity and fashion design. In our country, with the contribution of Ferragamo, which creates footwear with cork wedges, what will later be called "Made in Italy" begins to establish itself.

Ferragamo can be considered the launching pad for the development of Italian fashion in those years and cities such as Florence, Milan and Rome compete to obtain the role of fashion center. Subsequently, innovations came from England, in particular with regards to references to Pop Art. In the 1960s, footwear took on a more linear shape, heels had a wider base and the tips became rounded. In the following twenty years, Made in Italy became increasingly established thanks to successful designers such as Gianni Versace, Giorgio Armani and Valentino. The last years of the last century launched a more minimal and rigid trend with black taking on the role of predominant color. With the new millennium, thanks to globalization, new fashions are spreading that overturn previous history and take on connotations never seen before.