In the Wardrobe of… Sergio Colantuoni

Today we meet Sergio Colantuoni, lifestyler with deep competences in fashion, design and food.

As a boy, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I didn’t even know this kind of job existed; Gianfranco Ferrè told me about it after I did the Master with him at the Domus Academy.
He said: “You’re very quick – you ought to work on a fashion magazine”, and it was only when I was working at Vogue that I discovered there was a job – that of the fashion editor, where you can choose clothes, mix and match them as you like, choose who’s going to wear them, where to photograph them,  the photographer, to create an image, a look, that can inspire many people. This is my job.

Right now I’m a lifestyler – don’t ask me what it means. I only know that after years of hard work, I have acquired a substantial amount of knowledge as regards fashion, design and food, which I have been covering for almost twenty years for the magazine Io Donna. I have an all-round, 360° view of things, whether we’re talking about a table-setting, organising a trade-fair or party, decorating a shop or home, designing a clothing or accessory collection, or image editing. I mix the cards up and something happens. 

In short, all you have to do is ask me about image and I’ll come up with an answer!

How many shoes do you have in your wardrobe?
I have as many as I need. It’s also a question of practicality – for example I only use my rubber Converse shoes when it rains. I have shoes that I keep buying time after time, like the Allen Edmonds  Saddle Shoes – which I like very much but which unfortunately they don’t make any more. I love my Church shoes, that Giorgio Backhaus gave me in the Eighties, my Positano sandals which I have made in Ravello by Bottega Caruso. That’s because I prefer a leather sole even for sandals.

How many do you buy per season?
This year I  bought two pairs, two Campers, and I’ve worn them all the time: a pair of heat sealed sneakers and a pair of sandals. The whole summer with two shoes!

Which shoes would you never do without?
My Hermès boots, which I often use at Christmas; they make me feel a bit like Father Christmas and special on occasions.

Which shoes would you like to throw away and why?
I throw away shoes only when they are completely worn out, full of holes, broken, ripped – in other words, when it’s really too shaming to wear them anymore. I ‘m the type of person who gets attached to things.

Italian shoes are…
Well-made, like those made by Ferragamo which I keep as a relic, seeing as I tend to destroy everything, or like IoVado, a young brand that is only sold online; you download the sole from the site and 15 days later the shoes arrive just as you want them, with the colours and finishings you have selected on the monitor, with your initials on them; and they’re also super-comfortable, totally made-in-Italy.

The best friend of a pair of shoes is?
The shoe-menders, where I take them to be waxed, polished and mended.

A strange place you went to without shoes.
I usually go barefoot. I love going around in my bare feet, both in summer and winter. Not unsurprisingly, I then find myself on burning sand, stuck in the middle of brambles, on sharp rocks and don’t know how to go on.

Somewhere you couldn’t go without shoes.
Perhaps on Mars or the moon, because who knows what you might tread on?