Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XXI

2 0 6 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I T he distinctive features of the pure Made in Italy style have remained unchanged through time. Quality, passion for details and rigorous handmade workmanship are the core elements of distinction from its competitors in the exclusive club of the most famous and recognisable luxury brands of the world. Tradition fused with innovation, modern attitude married to ancient know-how – these are the parallel pillars Santoni has built its success on. It is a legacy guarded by the craftsman masters, some of who, have worked at the company since 1975. They witnessed the turn of Santoni from a local workshop into a global brand, and kept alive the original passion for extreme quality and beauty that has seen its collections placed in boutiques and flagship stores worldwide. Santoni’s spring/summer 2016 collection illustrates a dialogue between tradition and innovation. Soft materials give an elegant nonchalance to all the pieces of this collection: from classic monk straps to leather sandals, from retro-feeling bicolour shoes to the enveloping sporty lines of sneakers. As a result of the aesthetic and artisanal research involved in an ongoing evolution, Santoni shoes are precious objects. The style encapsulates the image of a man who is out of the ordinary and travels with the same nonchalance through different worlds and styles. This season’s shapes are shortened and thinned down creating new balances. The detail of the vamp closed by a double buckle is recurrent and characterises classic double monk straps in precious and surreal nuances, woven python or suede slippers and leather sandals. Cuts reveal the foot, redesigning its silhouette: no stitching and sharp profiles. Island soles and hand-sewn opanka shells bestow new presence to the lace-ups, while the two- colour shoes nod to a modernised yesteryear’s elegance. Softness is also a recurrent value. Unlined and graphic sneakers show a casual allure that can also be found in the bags: completely deconstructed attachés and briefcases. From candid to burnt leathers, from intense brown to deep orange and red, from the shades of blue to night black, the colour tones are dense and masculine. Materials are enveloping and precious: brushed calfskin, crocodile, kangaroo, silk-like moose and aged calf with gloss finishing. This season Santoni exits the boutique of via Montenapoleone to occupy the elegant spaces of Palazzo Bocconi with an installation conceived by Patrick Kinmonth and Antonio Monfreda, visionary duo of curators and creative directors and authors of sensational multi-sensory interventions. For Santoni, Kinmonth and Monfreda imagined a dialogue between past and present, tradition and innovation. A collection of collages gathered in a great book of alchemic flavour will be the protagonist of the presentation which will be enlivened by a video in which shoes move in a dreamlike dimension. The dialogue among languages conveys the spatial tangibility to the essence of the world of Santoni: tactile, artisanal, contemporary yet timeless. Santoni Spring Summer 2016 Menswear