Claudia Ciuti

For designer Claudia Ciuti, footwear is a family tradition. Growing up, Claudia Ciuti lived in an apartment above her father’s shoe factory in Tuscany. Today, she keeps the tradition alive with her own eponymous line. Though best known for sexy, strappy sandals, Ciuti is committed to comfort. “We do bags as well, but there is a major difference,” Ciuti tells WSAToday.com. Bags hang on you. With shoes, you hang on them. You never have to change bags during the day because you feel uncomfortable. The first time you wear our shoes to an event, you notice the quality.” Plus, you get noticed. “The history here has always been about being sexy,” Ciuti grins in an interview at her Manhattan showroom. We recently sat down with her to discuss her spring ’08 line. Below is an extended, Web-only version of our exclusive interview, which first appeared in our November issue.

What are your top trends for spring ’08?

Color! I really love working with combinations of metallic shades. Color blocking is something really fresh, and it gives you the opportunity to wear different colors, like baby blue mixed with gold. I also worked with geometric lines, cuts and patterns. Art Deco was a major inspiration for me.

Giglio, a slingback sandal from Ciuti's spring '08 collection

For spring ’08, we used printed croco [called Lagos Croco], which has a silicone finish, and Gorgona calf, which is a very soft leather. For the metallic styles, we used calf with a finish that is crisper than a normal metallic finish, and it has some wrinkles in it. And then, of course, we used python. Python is one of the constants for us, and we’ve been exploring different colors with the python. The peppermint green python is one of my favorites. It works really well with brown tones to make it really everyday and wearable.

And you don’t have to match green shoes with a green dress, right?

Americans like matchy-matchy, but that’s a very ’60s or ’70s kind of an idea. Many of my shoes need to be used as accent shoes. You can dress in a nice, neutral color—maybe in a beautiful khaki suit—and then wear a flash of peppermint.

Describe your customer to us.

She is fashion-forward, and age-wise, she is probably between 30 and 45 years old. She is definitely a traveler. She can shop online from California, and have it shipped to New Jersey. We consistently have customers coming from Europe to shop in our Madison Avenue store, which is great.

In your experience, what are some of the most important ways to reach your customers?

The answer should be the advertising, the editorial—that’s the technical answer. In my experience and in my dream world, it’s an immediate communication. We call it the “30 second” shoe. We make shoes that catch you, stop you, and make you go in a store. Thirty seconds is all it takes for that emotional response. You have that relationship with the shoe which goes a little further than, ‘I need a pair of flats to walk.’ With my shoes, you have a pair of shoes that will get noticed. It’s the communication of the shoe itself. The shoe doesn’t talk. It has to show something.

What would your shoes say if they could talk?

My shoes would say, ‘I am happy!’ I hate sad shoes. Once in a while, customers come in and request black shoes. I think, how sad! You need some shine. You need some ornamentation. You need a fancy heel.

Heels happen to be your specialty. What makes your brand different from other women’s brands?

We are known for our high, strappy sandals. What keeps our customers coming back, though, is the quality. Our shoes are beautiful, but you can wear them every day for hours and still be comfortable. We use the best materials from the few very good tanneries in Italy. Everything is made in Italy—the buckles, the leather, the foam. It is 100 percent not made in China.

Ciuti's favorite shoes from her spring '08 collection

And it is a family affair. Your father, who still runs the factory in Italy, is responsible for that quality, correct?

That’s right. I am in contact with my father [Carlo Ciuti] every day. Maybe 20 times a day! Growing up, our apartment was on top of the old factory. I grew up with the noise and the smell and the workers. The factory actually started with sandals, and then we ventured into close-toed shoes and boots, as well.

Did you work in the factory when you were growing up?

I worked in the factory while I was studying in Florence at the Fashion Institute of Design. I was also able to travel for shows, which really gave me a better idea of what it was going to take to do a collection for different markets, like the Far East and the United States.

As far as craftsmanship goes, what kind of technology is used to make the shoes comfortable and walkable?

There is a long piece of foam about three millimeters thick that goes in the sock lining of every sandal, shoe and boot. Additionally, there is a pillow where the balls of your feet are pushing, plus another piece of foam in the inner sock that runs from the back to the front.

Do you ever pop in to your store on Madison Avenue?

I do go there. Sometimes I feel like showing myself and saying who I am, but some other times, I am just there to spy! The best is always when you see a woman choosing between five different shoes saying, ‘I can’t buy them all, so let me think…’

What have been some of your biggest challenges in starting a footwear company and how did you overcome them?

Probably, the biggest challenge is taking chances. Every time and in every collection, there is a group of shoes that is more extreme, where I am introducing new colors and new concepts. At the same time, these risky shoes are more recognizable.

The Virginia

What are the “risky” shoes in this collection?

The risky one could be a shoe like the raspberry, orange and peppermint-colored Virginia [pictured]. You can’t find too many of these around. If the person who buys this shoe gets stopped at a crosswalk because the shoes were so appealing, she will definitely come back! It’s that second of fame that everybody likes. So in terms of designing, you have to take risks, and have fun with the shoes. Shoes sometimes are taken too seriously.

Overall, is there a standout style for spring?

I hate to say it, but wedges and platforms are still so hot. That said, shoes that are completely flat on the ground are also really in. It’s the very high and the very low—a trend that we are continuing from winter.

What’s on the horizon in women’s footwear?

There is a trend toward chunkier, more masculine shoes. At the same time, getting into this trend won’t guarantee sexiness. We are trying to make those heavier, masculine looks translate into sexy. It’s something that we are elaborating right now.

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