After building a company headquarters with an eco-friendly philosophy, Italian shoemaker Santoni had no choice but to hold itself to a high standard when designing a new Milan boutique. “Being environmentally sustainable is a way of living, and now it is natural to us,” Giuseppe Santoni, the brand’s CEO, told DuJour, “In our new boutique we could not avoid to continue under this thought.”
And so, Santoni, whose father Andrea founded the company in 1975, hired Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola to create an environment that maintained their commitment to the environment with an aesthetic worthy of the craftsmenship that goes into each pair of shoes. The overall aesthetic embraces new-meets-old: “The design distinguishing our shoes, as well as the one of the boutique, is modern and contemporary without following the trends,” Santoni said, explaining the significance of the store. This meant using natural materials like wood, glass and brass, the latter of which was used to create a geometric brass pattern – Santoni’s favorite feature of the store – which displays the shoes.
Take a look through the DuJour gallery to see more from inside the boutique, as well as the stylish faces – like Juliette Binoche, Olivier Zahm and Stefano Tonchi – who celebrated the Santoni store opening during Milan Fashion Week. Santoni’s Milan boutique is located at 6 Via Montenapoleanone in Milan.