These gravity-defying Santoni heels are a sculptural wonder

A closer look at Santoni’s Victoria pumps, which are defined by the architectural rigour of their gently slanted heels – an ode to the heritage footwear brand’s roots in Le Marche, Italy

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A collage of three images of black patent leather Santoni heels with strappy fastening, pointed toe, and slanted high heel
Shoes, £630, by Santoni, available santonishoes.com, as photographed in the May 2024 issue of Wallpaper*
(Image credit: Photography by Neil Godwin at Future Studios for Wallpaper*)

These gravity-defying pumps by Santoni are defined by their architectural rigour: the near-impossible slant of its sculpted heel gives the effect that the wearer is in constant forward motion, while a V-cut silhouette – narrowing to a knife-point at the toe – is designed to carve and elongate the ankle.

Held in place with the slimmest of straps – the buckle delicately etched with the ‘Santoni’ emblem – they are nonetheless engineered with the same ergonomic precision that the Italian shoemaker is built on. Founded in 1975 by Andrea and Rosa Santoni in the Marche region of Italy – a locale synonymous with shoemaking for over a century – Santoni now employs over 700 artisans, each working by hand to create the house’s growing library of men’s and women’s shoes.

Santoni SS24 Women's Collection Set-up in Milan featuring a plinth with shoes and handbags

Santoni’s S/S 2024 presentation in Milan last September, which was inspired by the landscapes and flora of Marche, Italy, where the brand was founded

(Image credit: Courtesy of Santoni)

Indeed, the brand’s S/S 2024 collection – first shown during Milan Fashion Week S/S 2024 last September – looked towards the Marche region, and its dramatic natural landscapes, for inspiration (a journey through ‘the motherland of the brand’, described Santoni). Spanning the undulating peaks of the Apennines, rolling hills, vineyards and olive groves, as well as the azure-blue Adriatic sea, ‘sensual and sinuous’ footwear was imagined in shades of delicate purple (inspired by the Malva flower), aquamarine, burnt shades of brown and ‘puro’ white.

A version of this article appears in the May 2024 Milan Preview Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

Discover Santoni’s S/S 2024 collection at santonishoes.com.

Fashion by Kris Bergfeldt.

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Jack Moss
Fashion & Beauty Features Director

Jack Moss is the Fashion & Beauty Features Director at Wallpaper*, having joined the team in 2022 as Fashion Features Editor. Previously the digital features editor at AnOther and digital editor at 10 Magazine, he has also contributed to numerous international publications and featured in ‘Dazed: 32 Years Confused: The Covers’, published by Rizzoli. He is particularly interested in the moments when fashion intersects with other creative disciplines – notably art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and reporting from international fashion weeks. Across his career, he has interviewed the fashion industry’s leading figures, including Rick Owens, Pieter Mulier, Jonathan Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner, Christian Lacroix, Kate Moss and Manolo Blahnik.