Behind the set: Santoni S/S 2017

A hand-scribbled note urged us to indulge in 'Tiny Vices' at the Italian house's Milan presentation at Palazzo Bocconi

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.   

Fashion Features Editor

Jack Moss is the Fashion Features Editor at Wallpaper*. Having previously held roles at 10, 10 Men and AnOther magazines, he joined the team in 2022. His work has a particular focus on the moments where fashion and style intersect with other creative disciplines – among them art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and profiling the industry’s leading figures and brands.