For quality, only Italian

Totes and footwear once owned by Princess Grace of Monaco, Jacqueline Kennedy, Sir Elton John, Brigitte Bardot, Julia Roberts and Penelope Cruz, not to mention a slew of Thai celebrities, are on view in the exhibition “Made in Italy: A Hundred Years of Italian Shoes and Bags” at Central Chidlom.
That “Made in Italy” stamp has long guaranteed good design, chic style and impeccable craftsmanship, and these characteristics are clear in the 30 renowned brands represented in the show that Central Retail Corp is co-hosting with Siam Commercial Bank.
The collection belongs to Dr Giorgio Forni, president of Italy’s Museum of Sartirana Foundation.
The section called “Crafts Galleria” displays vintage shoemaker’s tools, with a special focus on the work of a master of the art, Emilio Santamaria of Moreschi, a family operation established in 1946 in Vigevano, a traditional hub for high-quality shoes. Moreschi shod no less a figure than the late Pope John Paul II.
Santamaria actually paid Thailand a visit earlier this month to spend two days at the show demonstrating his technique. His eyes reflected experience and passion cultivated over four decades. He said his uncle taught him the trade when he was a teenager. “Making shoes is like creating art,” he declared. “It has never bored me. I tried switching careers. I tried selling cars, but it just didn’t work – I couldn’t sell any!”
Good shoes should be so soft and comfortable that it feels like you’re not even wearing shoes, Santamaria said, or, perhaps that you’re wearing satin gloves. “Manufactured shoes might look beautiful and perfect, but handmade shoes are certainly better and more durable, thanks especially to the hand-stitching. A real shoe is handmade.”
In the “100 Years of History” section, there is indeed century-old Gucci luggage, wonderfully evocative of the glamour of travel in the 1890s. You can see the cork-and-calfskin Rainbow Shoe that Salvatore Ferragamo made in 1938 (and reinterpreted in 2012), and red velvet pumps and a pillbox hat with a bow from Prada in the 1920s that immediately evoke the term “timeless elegance”. Rubelli of Venice has its impeccable bags on show alongside the velvet totes of Roberta di Camerino.
Among the other gifted Italian artisans being celebrated are those at Bottega Veneta, whose bags bear no logo but are nevertheless a household name globally. They use super-fine leather and their own Intrecciato weave that demands the utmost mastery the trade. Silk handbags in blue and white patterns and shoulder bags in purple and brown by Emilio Pucci are here. He’s “the king of casual couture”, known for his unique graphics and swirling prints that came to epitomise chic in the 1960s and ’70s.
The third section is “Palazzo of Italian Designers”, a showcase for some of the biggest names in 20th-century fashion, among them Andrea Pfister, Fendi, Giuliana de Camerino, Rene Caovilla, Versace, Valentino, Tod’s and Dolce & Gabbana.
“Celebrity Salone” is the fourth segment, and this is where a backpack used by Elton John in the 1980s currently resides, decorated with candies and lollipops by Andrea Pfister. Princess Grace’s 1959 velvet Bagonghi bag by Roberta di Camerino is on display.
American actress Penelope Cruz’s white-lace Bologna pumps have strolled in, too, and the 1960s Ken Scott red ballerina flats made famous by Brigitte Bardot on the cover of a fashion magazine. Suddenly the petite dancer’s slippers were sexy!
Pfister’s 1990s frog-shaped pouch worn by Lady Gaga, and a bag in the shape of a tomato that Julia Roberts owned, are on display, and this is where Thailand’s stars strut their stuff as well.
Tipanan Krairiksh Srifuengfung, MR Srikhamrung Yukol, Boonyapa Benjarongkul and Wanwilai Techasomboon have all worn Giuseppe Zanotti shoes. Daranee Yuwittaya favoured Rene Caovilla clogs, Supornthip Choungrangsee went for Miu Miu, Intira Thanawisut sported Rodarte, Kittiya Vorakitpokatorn preferred Versace and Dsquare, and Orawan Inkasith walked in Nicholas Kirkwood.
Giorgio Forni said putting his collection on tour inspired him to write a history of Italian fashion.
“Accessories are so absolutely fundamental in style and good taste that I decided to research where the ideas first came from,” he said. “It goes all the way back to the Renaissance. The pieces by Rubelli and Roberta di Camerino are made of velvet and silk and woven the same way as in Renaissance times.
“So these ideas – the craftsmanship, the way the fantastic fabrics are prepared – have come a long way from the traditional. But the beauty of objects made in the 20th century is found in the heritage of the past. What happens today is dressed according to the past.”
Forni said he’s often asked why Italians in particularly seem so gifted when it comes to gorgeous modern creativity. He replies that it’s nurtured from childhood.
“In Italy we absorb the artistic creativity just by seeing the churches, palaces and other such architecture. We enter the church and we hear fantastic music, maybe by Vivaldi. In museums we see the paintings, the sculptures. So the beauty comes inside without any effort. It’s genetically imprinted, and we’re given unconscious inspiration to transcribe the memory of the beauty we see. We collect these ideas from the past and throw them into the contemporary pot!”

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The exhibition continues until July 28.
And, until that date, for every pair of shoes purchased at any branch of Central with a Siam Commercial credit card, the bank will donate another pair to underprivileged students at Border Patrol Police schools. It aims to give away 1,000 pairs in all.