Glass and gold leaf shoes, Venetian masks: inside Tod’s Venice display of master artisans’ craftsmanship

An exhibition held by Tod’s on the eve of the 60th Venice Biennale saw artisans offer their own take on the Italian luxury shoe brand’s distinctive loafer

Loafers were gilded with gold leaf and made from glass; the shoe’s pebble sole was recreated in mosaic; shoe leather was even used to create Venetian masks

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Published: 7:15am, 27 Apr 2024Updated: 7:50am, 27 Apr 2024

In our increasingly digital world of artificial intelligence and ubiquitous social media, the skill of artisans practising labour-intensive crafts is a mesmerising thing to witness.

This explains why Tod’s, the Italian luxury brand known for its distinctive Gommino loafer, made a literal show of various crafts on the eve of the 60th Venice Biennale, an international art exhibition which opened to the public on April 20.

The exhibition, titled “The Art of Craftsmanship”, was feted on April 19 with a buzzy cocktail at Venice’s Tese di San Cristoforo – an industrial-chic space that used to be part of the city’s shipyard and is a stone’s throw from the biennale’s Italian pavilion, also supported by Tod’s.

Following the invitation-only celebration, “The Art of Craftsmanship” was opened to the public for two days.

Master artisans were tasked with reinterpreting Tod’s classic pebble-sole Gommino loafer, and the brand, for the exhibition. Photo: Tod’s

At the entrance, an oversized spool conceived by artist Federica Marangoni gave guests a hint of things to come; around it coiled a “wire” of orange neon-lit tubing, which led through the lofty space and culminated in a pendant sculpture of a Gommino sole on an aluminium base.