Italian
luxury footwear designer, Giuseppe Zanotti, has opened up on how the design
business has changed over the last few years. In the past, Zanotti was known
for making skyscraper heels and stilettos, but the market for women's footwear
has changed and high end trainers are more desirable than ever. Zanotti has put
his own stamp on the trainer trend and says that he saw adjusting his vision as
a "new challenge". While usually his aesthetic is extremely feminine
and glamorous, he moved out of his comfort zone to try out the androgynous and
sporty footwear.
He
explained that he was interested in the unisex look of trainers: "It’s a
new challenge. I started to do [sneakers] only three or four years ago. I never
thought I would because I’m a slave to stilettos. I compare sneakers to jeans,
which are the most incredible form of unisex fashion. I like that they both
don’t have rules. They need to be very close to the rock ’n’ roll and hip-hop
cultures and have global appeal. My elegant heels, which I love, must always be
very sophisticated, but sneakers are like dynamite — you can do what you want.”
Zanotti
has come to realize that his footwear label doesn't always have the same
meaning to everyone and different customers view his pieces in very different
lights. He commented that he also felt a push to branch out into men's footwear
designs: “I’ve learned [my brand] can mean different things to different
people. And thanks to the sneaker, I discovered that it was important for me to
create a men’s collection as well.”
