Handmade shoes: Luxurious Mobility from the City with No Cars

The Campiello del Sol is just a few minutes’ walk from the famous Rialto Bridge. However, it’s miles away from the Venice familiar to package tourists and day-trippers. Inconspicuous facades line the Campiello – or little square – in the district of San Polo. In one corner, a quiet pizzeria waits for its guests, while another recess of the square conceals the unremarkable workshop belonging to shoemaker Gabriele Gmeiner.

There, behind exposed brickwork and a large window, the Austrian-born Gmeiner has, for the past 16 years, been producing possibly the finest shoes in Venice. There’s nothing of the city’s gaudy palaces or glamorous festivals on display here, however. Instead, Gmeiner’s workshop creates an almost archaic impression, with its traditional tools on the wall and solid wood furnishings. It’s hard to believe that this is a place where custom shoes are made, costing between 2,500 and 12,000 euros a pair.

“The workshop is my living room,” Gmeiner explains. “As I work, I enjoy the watching the vibrant city scene outside my window. Children play in the square. And when my neighbors walk past the window, they greet me with a wave.”

Gabriele Gmeiner could be called a shoemaker. But that would be an understatement. Her handmade shoes are symphonies – symphonies in which the 46-year-old craftswoman attends to every single note.

This care and love of detail is reflected in every stage of Gmeiner’s work. After a preliminary discussion with her customer, Gmeiner measures each foot, both in sitting and standing position. Next, she carves the lasts from a beechwood billet over a period of four to five days. These molds, which mimic the shape of the feet, first provide the shape for a pair of trial shoes, which Gmeiner produces from second-grade materials and which the customer wears for two weeks. “It’s very important that I see the trial shoe being worn to gain some insights,” Gmeiner says. On this basis, she can then make tiny modifications, for example in places where the shoes appear to be pressing.

The production of the actual bespoke shoes can take up to 18 months. “It’s not just the manual production process that takes so much time,” Gmeiner explains. “The shoe also needs a long time to rest on the last.” In addition, there may be a wait for the high-quality materials involved. For her welted shoes, Gmeiner uses mainly calf leather, which is tanned in a tanning agent made from bark and acorns. “This natural process is comparable to a Parmesan cheese that ripens for 48 months and develops special qualities in the process,” she explains. Gmeiner sources the leather uppers from France and the leather linings from Pakistan. Sometimes she also uses Cordovan horse leather from Horween, a traditional factory in Chicago.

Aside from one intern, Gabriele Gmeiner has no employees. She handles most of the manual processes herself, processing up to 20 jobs at any one time and therefore only completing two or three pairs of shoes a month. With regard to shape, color, and material, Gmeiner is guided by the wishes of her clients. “Handmade shoes are a very personal matter,” the custom shoemaker explains. “Customers are welcome to get involved here in the workshop and feed in their wishes even during the production process.”

Typically, her clients favor a more traditional and conservative design. Gentlemen prefer Oxford shoes, loafers, brogues, or Derby shoes. Men, in fact, make up around 85 per cent of Gmeiner’s customers. “Women tend to look for a shopping experience,” the shoemaker says in explaining this phenomenon. “Lots of men, on the other hand, appreciate the fact that they can order further pair of bespoke shoes without much effort, as they can be produced from their own personal lasts.” Gabriele Gmeiner keeps every single last that she makes. Hundreds of examples are suspended from the ceiling in her workshop. When a customer orders an additional pair of welted shoes, production takes only a few months.

Needless to say, Gabriele Gmeiner’s son wears handmade shoes. His lasts hang directly above her workbench. As she walks with six-year-old Giacomo through the alleys of Venice, Gmeiner enjoys the atmosphere of the hidden nooks and crannies that are little known to tourists. Her favorite places include the southern part of La Giudecca and the former market garden island of Sant Erasmo.

Gabriele Gmeiner has found her perfect little microcosm in an very authentic part of the city of canals. Venice fascinates and inspires her time and again, especially with regard to the artistry of her craft. This inspiration, however, isn’t only drawn from grand masters like Titian and Tintoretto. “Inspiration often comes when I’m not looking for it,” Gmeiner explains. “For example, when I walk around the city or by the lagoon.”  She does indeed enjoy letting herself drift through the city– not by boat, though, but on foot.