5 Reasons Why Handmade Italian Sandals Are Your Ultimate Wardrobe Item

The ever-evolving, stylish woman of today is looking for comfort, quality, and style without compromising her sense of fashion. And surprisingly a stylish woman may have much less in her closet than you think, because she understands that it’s all about balancing basic staples and chic good quality items. She knows that a high quality item will always make her feel beautiful when she wears it.

Italian shoes have long been known for their traditional craftsmanship and good quality. Despite the technologies we have today, they are still made with the same passion and dedication, often hand-sewn, by family factories.

So what makes Italian handmade sandals so special? It’s simple! It’s the utmost care for the aesthetics and Italian style and the great attention to detail that goes into creating a beautiful shoe.

Here are a few tips to getting the shoe wardrobe you want while knowing what to look for:

1. Look For Brands that Are Made in Italy

There may be a lot of big name brands out there producing high quality shoes, but many new brands offer top quality too at lower prices as they implemented a direct to consumer shopping model. They work with small, experienced family businesses in Italy, are passionate about their work, and innovative with their approach to design.

2. A Polished Look

The good news is that there are more and more unique brands entering the market today. Take ROCCAPINA, an Australian sandals label that creates women’s leather sandals handmade in Italy.

The label focuses on using the best-quality materials and using them to design affordable shoes. The brand’s sandals boast simplicity and elegance, and at the same time a more polished look with thoughtful detailing or Swarovski crystal embellishment.

3. Quality Over Newness

Many handmade shoe brands work based on the slow fashion principle of producing fewer new items. This means these companies don’t implement a massive production run. Instead, they produce timeless collections each year that focus on high level craftsmanship rather than new products. Slow fashion essentially means you wear what you buy for a longer time and buy items that last longer. These shoes are designed to be classic and to last a long time.

4. Focus on Durability

Since craftsmanship and style are key factors among Italian craftsmen to ensure customer satisfaction, then obviously durability is part of their quality assurance. While a beautiful shape, fit and feel for sandals are essential, creating small quantities guarantees quality is of utmost importance as well. The result is shoes designed to be classic and to last a long time.

5. Ethical Fashion 

Did you know that many of the mass-produced shoes today generate CO2 emissions? Shoes account for a big part of the emissions produced in clothing manufacture today. When talking about ethical fashion , it’s easy to forget shoes. With handmade Italian sandals, the majority of the materials used are from Italy, and the production process is manual and based locally. The supplier partners are based locally which means the impact on the environment is minimal. Most factories are family factories where all generations work under one roof with fair working conditions. In fact you will have a hard time finding a factory in Italy that does not value a long lunch break to sit and eat with their family.

Great Style is all about staying true to yourself, being confident in your skin, wearing a smile on your face, and clothes that make you feel your absolute best. If you’re keen to elevate your style even more, by supporting local craftsmen, purchasing ethically made products and contributing positively to the environment, then this list is a great place to start.

ROCCAPINA creates simple-to-wear, elegant sandals designed to instantly create a polished look. Designed in Sydney and entirely handmade in Italy, the boutique footwear label designs for women that struggle to find sophisticated pieces, that easily complement their favourite wardrobe staples and elevate their casual look.

Written by Roccapina

Personal Stylists, Personal Shoppers and Wardrobe Consultants available in the Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City areas.