Guidi, or its complete name Guidi 1896 S.r.l, is a family company located in the Tuscan region of Pescia, in Italy. They started tanning leather in 1896, and have supplied leather for other well known high fashion houses such as Prada, Maison Margiela and Rick Owens. This was until 2004 were they started making their own shoes, known for their artisanal making and their unique and handcrafted designs.
Guidi shoes are characterized by how they are made. The boots go through various treatments and processes, such as tanning drums in order to make them look distressed. And the big success secret of the shoes is that they use the “object dyeing” technique. When the boot or shoe is finished, they put them into the tanning drums with the dye, and that’s how the show dyes completely. This process allows the Guidi company to work with a great variety of colours without loosing its aesthetic.
In addition, the method Guidi uses is the ‘Goodyear welt’, that consists of joining the upper toe part to the sole with an additional strip of material, known as the welt, using heat-activated glue and industrial-strength stitching. And finally, the subtle but not less important part of the Guidi boots is their heel, which is made with stacked leather. It consists of stacking thick pieces of leather that are then glued together and nailed together.
Guidi’s most known models are: the 788 Back Zip, The M88 Back Zip, The 3006FZ Front Zip, The 210 Front Zip, and last but not least, The PL2 Front Zip.
Written by Gonzalo Cobos
