A year ago, Shari Fontani, a young and energetic creator of exclusive shoes, appeared on the Italian fashion scene. Having barely defended her graduation project, she immediately became the winner of the prestigious competition for young designers, and soon - a participant in Milan Fashion Week. Shari earned such a rapid success and the title of a young talent thanks to her simple heels. Although no, they still cannot be called simple, because the designer offered a collection of interchangeable heels of various designs for any mood.
The idea to create interchangeable heels with an original design came to Shari Fontani a year and a half ago, while working on a graduation project at the Department of Culture and Fashion Design at the University of Florence. “When I showed the sketches to my professor, he said: 'Shari, this is a great idea, but you can never realize it!' I looked at him and replied: "I will do it before the defense of the graduation project." I was so inspired that in a few days I came up with a system for attaching a heel, and in just one day I collected documents and registered my invention, as well as the very idea of interchangeable hairpins, ”recalls the designer. The fastening system became the most difficult part of the work, since it was necessary to ensure its strength and stability. As a result, it turned out to string the heel onto the stiletto and fasten it to the base of the shoe using a screw thread and a lock, which relies on an elegant key. The key is made of gilded chrome, hung on a chain and enclosed in a box with heels. It looks like a real jewelry that can even be worn around the neck - which Shari does, thereby proving her sincere love for her idea.
The first models of heels, created as part of the graduation project, were romantic and cute - they embodied the idea of seven colors. However, in the work on the next collection, Shari Fontani allowed herself to express more daring feelings and associations. As a result, the designer got a peculiar interpretation of the seven deadly sins expressed with gilded and silver plated chrome inlaid in the form of Swarovski crystals. Each heel symbolizes one sin in its Catholic interpretation: pride is depicted with the help of small mirrors inserted into the heel, laziness is in the form of drop-shaped figures with crystals. The heel, depicting lust, is decorated with golden silhouettes of women, and envy - with the image of yellow flowers. Greed, which in the Catholic faith is more likely to be understood as a desire to gain even more power over people, is expressed by the designer in the form of a tower of blue rhombuses, rectangles and balls. According to Shari Fontani, the same color was the ring of Lady Diana, who died due to someone's greed. The most expressive heels seem to depict anger in the form of a naked dagger and gluttony in the form of three bright balls of ice cream in a horn. Each pair of heels comes in a round velvet box of black color, and for safety when carrying it is tied with satin ribbons. Such attention to detail is characteristic of everything that Shari Fontani does, and from this her exclusive things seem even more valuable.
However, heels are not all that make up the Shari Fontani collection. Each pair of hairpins requires a worthy companion in the form of shoes, so there are several models of high-rise shoes with a silk or suede finish in black, blue-gray, red and gold to choose from. Each pair is put on a sturdy hairpin of the corresponding color, and on the insole of each shoe is the designer’s trademark: a parrot stylized with the letters S and F. All shoes and heels are made in the personal workshop of the designer, opened 7 months ago after the first success of unusual Shari Fontani brand accessories. The production of one pair takes from 50 to 90 working days, and many models are made by special order of customers. Shari already has enough of them to make sure of the prospects of the enterprise and the success of the idea itself. With the promotion of Shari Fontani, organization of support for young stylists Cool Hunter Italy and organizers of various design contests helps. However, looking at this energetic Italian, it is difficult to say that she needs any help: charisma and unshakable confidence in her own success seem to open any doors for Shari Fontani.
At the end of May of this year, Shari Fontani, with the support of the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce, arrived in Moscow to meet representatives of luxury stores and show them the latest collection of her amazing heels. About which companies she hopes to cooperate with, Shari mysteriously remained silent, but there is no doubt: soon a clatter of a pair or two of Shari Fontani heels will sound over Moscow bridges - their luxurious style is very close to Russian customers, and the very idea of interchangeable stilettos cannot not to please the demanding and wealthy fashionistas. At least in Europe, Shari Fontani interchangeable heels have already earned the approval of not only the organizers of Milan Fashion Week, but also the end customers: in Italy, the Shari Fontani collection is sold in selected stores in Rome, Florence and Milan. Being a true exclusive, all pairs of heels are sold in a single copy for each city. Thus, Shari protects the desire of the owners of heels to be truly one and only in their own territory. However, you have to pay for everything, and Shari Fontani heels are no exception: the purchase price for a pair of shoes is about 300 euros, and for a pair of heels it’s 475 euros, and products from Shari Fontani’s work come with price tags from 2 500 to 3 600 euros . Such is the price of handmade, unique idea and originality of style.
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