Golden Goose is an Italian luxury fashion brand based in Venice, Italy. Its product line includes handcrafted leather sneakers, footwear, ready-to-wear and accessories featuring vintage styling and the Star logo. Silvio Campara has been the CEO of Golden Goose since September 2018.
GOLDEN GOOSE
past, present and future of the luxury sneakers brand according to CEO Silvio Campara
Having reached the milestone of twenty years this year, that of Golden Goose is a success story that contains several trump cards of the best Made in Italy: passion, research, masterful workmanship, a recognizable aesthetic, with the plus of an out-of-the-ordinary approach. schemes.
It all started from a laboratory near Venice, where the founders Francesca Rinaldo and Alessandro Gallo started making sneakers with impeccable workmanship, artfully stressed and finished by the incomplete star on the upper; a style marked by “perfect imperfection” (as per the title of the anniversary volume).
To illustrate the formula, if we want the secret that has allowed a small Venetian company to transform itself into a global brand, is in the following interview the CEO Silvio Campara, who often emphasizes the centrality of workers and customers, part of a community which represents the true strength of Golden Goose.
Fashion is changing, in terms of quality, design, keywords (above all fluidity, a term that seems appropriate for Golden Goose), what is your point of view on all this?
«I prefer to express myself in terms of attitude rather than fluidity, of thought at the basis of the Golden Goose“ uniform ”, of values such as the concept of timeless, by far the most relevant, or that of uniqueness. The latter is guaranteed by the work of over four hours, totally manual, necessary for each pair of sneakers; from the tread to the upper, all the steps are handmade and, as such, unique ».
Golden Goose seems to demonstrate how a “real” process, done by hand, can lead to excellent results, it is not necessary to cut costs or relocate …
“We are very lucky, the craftsmanship of the brand is perceptible, unfortunately often the hand-made does not manage to communicate in the right way, to reach consumers. The product speaks for itself, of course, but the people involved must know how to tell it ».
What’s your secret, is there a method? Is it your (intentional) imperfection that attracts customers?
“In fact it is a key element, we want everything to be as less perfect as possible, imperfection is synonymous with detail, attention to detail, and our task is to have confidence in people’s ability to grasp them; Returning to fluidity, we also decline it in perceiving ourselves as a constantly evolving community; with no need to wear designer clothes from head to toe to feel part of a club, at Golden Goose we are all part of the family, ideas and individuality count. ”
“Absolutely, in people more generally. It is a project in progress, in which garments and accessories translate our principles and this happens at all levels, I was the first to get involved first of all in the history of the brand, beautiful to live and tell.
We directly control all processes, not out of obsession with margins or anything, but because – again – people are at the center of the discussion, you can’t expect to define a timeless style without knowing what the world out there expects. Shop kids, for example, have an incentive to talk to visitors. The sneaker makers, for their part, are artisans not only of the product but of the feelings, they too are fond of Golden Goose, this is what makes the brand timeless; the real luxury lies in the emotional connection ».
What is Golden Goose’s position on the – decisive – issue of sustainability?
“It is a topic that we sometimes think we can liquidate with announcements or articles, but we ask ourselves serious questions about it: fashion has polluted since the days of Charles Frederick Worth, is it possible to stop doing it overnight? We try to do things right, to work seriously, it is a very long journey, every solution cannot be considered definitive ».
How can you protect, in addition to business, the part relating to craftsmanship, work, ethics in general?
«We need investments, guaranteed by growth, we have always maintained a strong link with suppliers, in some ways we created them, before they were dedicated only to formal footwear. Made in Italy is much more than a strategic asset, it is carried on gradually, brick by brick ».