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Hierarchy of Italian Shoemakers

kiLLscaLLion

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I found the hierarchy of British shoemakers thread extremely helpful, so I decided to start one comparing Italian shoemakers. Would anyone like to start off by submitting his personal rankings?
 

CunningSmeagol

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Mainstream RTW:

'ton
'toni 'AM
'assi
'gamo 'mezza

No experience with anything else. I would imagine Bontoni, Gravati, and the Rider brands can be pretty nice, too.

All the crap the comes out of Italy in addition to the abovementioned makes taxonomy somewhat more of a chore than it is for the English.

Fori seem to be in love with bespoke stuff from 'fora and 'tanzi, but I've not so much as touched either.
 

mishon

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From reading and personal experience: Top 5 Lattanzi Stefanobi Mantellassi Santoni FAM Tramezza Mid 4 Gravati Martegani Branchini Testoni The rest Artioli Borgioli Bontoni Gucci Prada ...
 

Gus

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Mishon, I'm curious why you ranked Bontoni in the lower third. I bought a pair this year and feel they are every bit as good and far more comfortable, than my Mantellassi's (that I also like).
 

mishon

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Originally Posted by pocketsquareguy
Mishon, I'm curious why you ranked Bontoni in the lower third. I bought a pair this year and feel they are every bit as good and far more comfortable, than my Mantellassi's (that I also like).
PS, because I do not know much about them
smile.gif
I now remember the double monk Bontoni that you bought and it is a stellar looking shoe! Please feel free to improve the list as needed.
 

norcaltransplant

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Cross reference the JCusey article on AskAndy for relative shoe strengths and weaknesses. Italian shoe companies run the gambit with regards to quality--this hold true in the variabilities between different companies as well as product lines within individual firms. IIRC, Rider gave a nice synopsis about the production hierarchy/pecularities that were present at Martegani.

FWIW, here are some of my favorite Italian brands:
Top-Tier (bespoke)
1) Lattanzi
2) Scafora
3) Ugolini* (Haven't handled in person)

Highest quality RTW
1) Kiton
2) Mantellassi
3) Botoni
4) StefanoBi
5) Lidfort
6) Santoni FAM (tan sock)
7) Ferragamo Tramezza

Quality RTW
1) Tanino Crisci
2) Gravati
3) Moreschi
4) Artioli
5) Peluso
6) a.testoni
7) Santoni FAM (orange sock)
8) Ferragamo Lavorizione Originale

Others:
1) Bentanin & Venturini (oversized welts)
2) Stefano Branchini
3) Bruno Magli, Prada, Gucci, Tod's etc.

EDIT
: Check the archives for a more detailed list. Attempting to compile ALL of the nice Italian RTW makers is an exhaustive excercise.
 

voxsartoria

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Bonora is a Florentine bespoke maker with a lovely shop. Their lasts and styles, at least when I visited them, were conservative and English.

I don't know if they are still experimenting with a RTW with their name on it, but if they are, I doubt they make the RTW.

- B
 

Roger

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Norcaltransplant's rank-ordering above seems consistent with what has been posted over the years on the forum. However, Martegani is missing and should be added, in my opinion, to the "Quality RTW" list. In addition, there are Lattanzi RTW shoes, and these should be added to the "Highest Quality RTW" list. The only quibble I might have with the above rankings might be re StefanoBi, which I'd probably drop down to the "Quality RTW" list. It's important, I think, to realize that there are some large differences among brands appearing in the same sub-list. For example, I'd rate Kiton way above Ferragamo Tramezza in the top list, and the Amadeus line of a. Testoni way above Moreschi in the middle list. The latter comparison is consistent with norcaltransplant's point about within-brand differences arising from different lines. The low-end Testonis would, in my opinion, barely make it into the middle grouping. Sutor Mantellassi exhibits the same within-brand variation, with some--their top-end line--definitely belonging in the highest grouping, but their lower lines in the middle grouping.
 

TCN

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Where would Barrett fit in?
 

speedster.8

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Originally Posted by norcaltransplant
Italian brands: Top-Tier (bespoke) 1) Lattanzi Peron e Peron Many more 2) Scafora 3) Ugolini* (personaly not to impressed) Highest quality RTW 1) Kiton 2) Mantellassi (SPLIT for different lines AS SANTONI) 3) Botoni 4) StefanoBi 5) Lidfort (would rate these in the next batch) 6) Santoni FAM (tan sock) 7) Ferragamo Tramezza Quality RTW 1) Tanino Crisci (MUCH HIGHER Q IMHO) 2) Gravati 3) Moreschi (DIFFERENT LINES) 4) Artioli (DIFFERENT LINES) 5) Peluso 6) a.testoni (DIFFERENT LINES) 7) Santoni FAM (orange sock) 8) Ferragamo Lavorizione Originale Others: 1) Bentanin & Venturini (oversized welts) 2) Stefano Branchini (ONE MAY NOT LIKE THE STYLING BUT his best line is in the upper end) 3) Bruno Magli, Prada, Gucci, Tod's etc.
See some more makers on my googlemap: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...b63138&t=h&z=7
 

speedster.8

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Originally Posted by TCN
Where would Barrett fit in?
What i have seen form Barret = Gravati & Moreschi etc but slightly more traditional. But they as others may have different lines.
 

Tarmac

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Good efforts above, It's near impossible to make an Italian list. It's hard to even explain Santoni's hierarchy alone.

I would put Borgioli and Martegani in the Quality RTW list.
 

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