Tradition and connection to the territory come to life in the project created in Sondrio
The story starts from afar, when the women of Valmalenco, a valley in the province of Sondrio, sewed “Pedü” by hand, shoes built with layers of fabric, leftovers of clothing: resistant, sustainable, and handcrafted. This local tradition was interrupted in the 1950s and would have ended with the last four women who still kept the secrets of this process if the Pedü Original project had not been born. A team from Sondrio, led by the founder Thomas Bardea, has revived these shoes which today are perfectly in line with the values of sustainability, linked to the history that has its roots in the Valtellina area. This cultural heritage and artisan know-how was passed on by these four “art masters” to a new generation of seamstresses and tailors who were thus able to learn all the secrets of this ancient process.
So, here are today’s Pedü Originals, presented at Pitti Uomo: footwear declined in three heights where the upper is made of cotton, linen, smooth or ribbed velvet, pony-knit cotton, boiled wool, the midsole is made of various layers (up to 30) of recycled felt or wool, no longer sewn by hand, but with sewing machines to make them more resistant, and the sole is in Vibram Ecostep, specially made for the brand with an ecological compound made up of at least 30% recycled rubber. The sole for the summer models is smoother, while for the winter ones it has a lug tread. As such, it is a sustainable product, built as it once was, destined to last over time and, by virtue of the materials used, with a guarantee of thermal insulation and thermoregulation. However, even if it is a shoe linked to tradition and the territory, nothing prevents us from looking to the future and experimenting with new solutions: “From research” – explains Thomas Bardea – “an upper in fabric with graphene is born, a material with antibacterial, thermoregulating, and anti-odour properties”. When tradition rhymes with evolution!
