November 2016 ITALIA! 71DISCOVER ITALIA!
Photography by Marina Spironetti unless otherwise statedStudents at Ars Sutoria
receive hands-on guidance in
all aspects of shoe-makingT
he footwear in the sample room at Ars Sutoria
is like heaven to me: an impressive collection
of anything from simple but colourful
ballerinas to gorgeously sleek stilettos. For
once my finances are safe, though. None of
them is up for sale. I am looking at the shoe prototypes of
the students who attended the 13-week Footwear Pattern
Making and Prototyping course in Milan. This beautiful
display of shoes speaks for itself, saying a lot about what can
be achieved over a relatively short amount of time.
Ars Sutoria has been a reference point for young
footwear designers and entrepreneurs for many decades.
Even if courses are master’s level, no previous experience
is required – technically speaking, anybody can have
a go at it as long as they are passionate about shoes.
Students are in for a full immersion into the fascinating
world of shoe-making through theoretical and practical
lessons. Pattern-making is an essential part of the
learning process: a lot of drawing, cutting and glueing
is involved in turning simple sheets of paper into
beautiful and proportioned patterns that will fit tight.
Towards the end of the course students move from
the classroom to the school’s small shoe factory, where
they can get acquainted with all the machines needed
to produce shoes. There, thanks to the help of the
skilled technicians who operate the machinery, course
participants have the invaluable chance to see how their
own design can be turned into a finished product. Students’ completed prototypes © http://www.arssutoria.comIT144.BestFootForward.sg6.indd 71 28/09/2016 14:33pm