From cars to leather, from seats to shoes. Walter De’ Silva, legendary head of design for the Volkswagen group (but he also designed the Alfa Romeo 156) has created a collection of women’s evening shoes, all black and with 10.5-cm high heels. For it he drew on materials also used in auto-making: steel and light magnesium alloys for the heels, carbon textile for the bodies of the shoes. Outstanding in the collection is a lizard pump. Production will be of about 1,000 pairs a year and manufactured by GGR (an affiliate of the Sergio Rossi group). The shoes will be sold solely online (www.walterdesilva.com) in a price range of 600 to 1,500-plus euros. “They will be the Bentleys of footwear” said De’ Silva, who got his passion for footwear from his shoemaker grandfather. Some three years ago the designer presented Luft (flight in German), a supple armchair in leather and aluminum that blended Poltrona Frau’s handcrafting expertise with the innovation of Audi Design Concept, Munich. (mv)
From Volkswagen interiors (and more) to shoes: Walter De’ Silva designs a women’s footwear collection
