Tried Rivolta recently. I first read about it from permanentstyle's blog and paid the shop a visit. The setup was interesting, to say the least, as it was smack in the middle of the fashion district (across from D&G on via Spiga) with an equally modern but well organized shop, displaying some old shoes and tools along with some new samples.
The owner (?) is a nice lady who runs the shop with her niece. She was there when I visited and assisted in the entire process. First was the design of the shoe, which was done on a large touch screen where I was shown the exact style and color of the shoe in real time. I was a little confused in the beginning as I thought I was designing the shoe from scratch. Apparently you have to limit your creativity to what the program offers, but there were more than plenty to work on. I selected a Norvegian in green suede. Most of the models are more classically Italian (read: NOT Stefano Branchini or Berluti) and if you play your cards right there are quite a number of very elegant models.
The shoes, as far as I could skim information while I was there, were made in collaboration with Stefano Bemer - or at least the same factory that also makes the ready-made models for Bemer. I don't know how things are after Bemer left. In any case, the fitting process came next, where I had to put my feet, one at a time, in a scanner and scanned three times each. A computer is connected to it and a couple minutes later I saw my measurements on the screen. They will be made into resin lasts.
It will take 5, 6 weeks to complete the shoe. Even though, in all fairness, I have never receive the same, identical fitting from different shoemakers, I wonder whether computer will really be more 'accurate'. JM Weston used to have a similar system years ago but the project was abandoned. As of this moment, I don't think many had tried Rivolta yet.
The owner (?) is a nice lady who runs the shop with her niece. She was there when I visited and assisted in the entire process. First was the design of the shoe, which was done on a large touch screen where I was shown the exact style and color of the shoe in real time. I was a little confused in the beginning as I thought I was designing the shoe from scratch. Apparently you have to limit your creativity to what the program offers, but there were more than plenty to work on. I selected a Norvegian in green suede. Most of the models are more classically Italian (read: NOT Stefano Branchini or Berluti) and if you play your cards right there are quite a number of very elegant models.
The shoes, as far as I could skim information while I was there, were made in collaboration with Stefano Bemer - or at least the same factory that also makes the ready-made models for Bemer. I don't know how things are after Bemer left. In any case, the fitting process came next, where I had to put my feet, one at a time, in a scanner and scanned three times each. A computer is connected to it and a couple minutes later I saw my measurements on the screen. They will be made into resin lasts.
It will take 5, 6 weeks to complete the shoe. Even though, in all fairness, I have never receive the same, identical fitting from different shoemakers, I wonder whether computer will really be more 'accurate'. JM Weston used to have a similar system years ago but the project was abandoned. As of this moment, I don't think many had tried Rivolta yet.
