Behind the set: Santoni S/S 2017

Hastily written in blue marker, the invitation could have come from a shoe fiend – and the footwear obsessives at Santoni could very well be described as such. The Italian house called upon the like-minded fashion writer and, in this instance, curator Angelo Flaccavento to develop the concept for its spring/summer 2017 presentation, and they turned to the equally fervent set designer Simon Costin to realize this evocative production, which looked at shoes as an indulgence – a 'tiny vice'. Flaccavento conceived the space as a labyrinth with soft pink-hued mirrored walls lining its claustrophobic halls, and plinths with pairs of shoes placed at every corner. Stacked televisions played disrupted transmissions of frenzied associative word sequences, seemingly written as a stream of consciousness from the Santoni woman caught up in a maze of intoxicating shoes.