Roberto Ugolini, Florentine shoe maker
Opposite Brunelleschi’s imposing Basilica di Santa Spirito in Florence sits Roberto Ugolini’s shoe making workshop.
I first noticed Roberto’s workshop 19 years ago when I visited Florence as a student. From the street, I peered in to gawp at two-tone brogues, marbled leather Oxfords, and soft tanned suede chukkas. I didn’t dare ask the price, I knew I couldn’t afford a pair. But ‘one day’, I thought to myself, ‘I will buy some hand-made shoes from that store’. Fast forward to 2020 and I wondered if my time had finally arrived.
As I entered, Roberto and one of his employees were working away on new shoes tightly wrapping pale leather around wooden lasts (the individual foot moulds for each customer), hammering the leather down with nails to keep it tight.
We spoke for a while about his craft and how he had come into it. His great grandfather was a shoe maker he told me pointing to an old photograph of him on the wall. He made simple everyday shoes anyone could afford; most shoes being hand-made 100 years ago. His grandfather and father continued the business but focused solely on shoe repairs. Roberto learnt from them what he could but with aspirations to become become a high end shoe maker, Roberto sought out master cordwainer Primo Vessilli and spent several years as his apprentice before opening his own business some 25 years ago.
Once a flourishing centre of craftsmanship, today there are only a few remaining artisans working in the Santa Spirito neighbourhood. Changing tastes and the rise of cheaper mass produced goods are two of the main reasons for this decline according to Roberto. To succeed today, you need to understand business and marketing on top of your craft. Many of the old school artisans have not adapted to this reality.
Roberto has embraced social media and a marketing mindset and his business is going strong. He sells to Italians but internationally too. Japan is his most lucrative international market and in normal non-Corona times, he travels there twice a year to meet clients and attend trade fairs. “The Japanese have a great appreciation of craftsmanship,” he tells me. He also sells to the US, UK and elsewhere in Europe. His exports to China are growing.
“Any famous clients?” I ask him.
“A few,” he replies. He points out the lasts with the name (Mel) ‘Gibson’ on it and those belonging to three of the four Red Hot Chilli Peppers. “But I’m not bothered about celebrity clients,” he says.
So, I finally ask him, “how much are we talking?”
To create your bespoke last and the first pair of shoes, it’s €1900 he tells me. And then 20% off that for every subsequent pair. It takes half a year for a pair of shoes to be made in this traditional way. I nodded along trying to contain my disappointment that these shoes would remain out of my budget. I guess my time had not arrived but I’m hopeful that one day it will!
You can learn more about Roberto and his craft on his website.