WHAT'S THE STORY
Doucal’s celebrates its roots in the Italian region of Marche in its communication strategy.
DOUCAL’S
FULL OF CHARACTER Traditional and yet so modern: Italian shoe brand Doucal’s provides the shoes for modern Italian elegance. In the following interview, CEO and Creative Director Gianni Giannini talks about how the family business has become internationally successful – and what digitalisation has to do with it. Interview: Martina Müllner-Seybold. Photos: Doucal’s
Your region, the Marche, is home to countless shoe manufacturers. Yet only few have managed to develop into a brand comparable to Doucal’s. Would you be willing to share your secret to success? Gianni Giannini, CEO and Creative Director of Doucal’s: We are incredibly proud of our Italian roots, yet we are quite un-Italian in one important aspect. We maintain a consistent, recognisable style without abandoning our roots for the sake of chasing a trend. Our father laid the foundations for this approach by modelling the brand on English counterparts. 172
style in progress
I would argue that one of the strengths of Doucal’s is that its shoes are so perfectly in tune with the zeitgeist and embrace the look that brands like Circolo 1901, Lardini, Stile Latino, Tagliatore, or Paolini are advocating. A shoe as casually elegant as a Doucal’s is a perfect match for this new ready-to-wear style. It is remarkable that you should mention these brands in particular, because some of them are genuine friends with whom we exchange ideas quite extensively. They send me their colour charts and we coordinate our shoes accordingly. But that is not the only secret. Our shoes not only offer a certain outward look, but also offer comfort inside. That is essential nowadays and requires a willingness to embrace innovation. We have, for example, hidden a layer of memory foam in our shoes. It makes you feel comfortable every time you slip them on and allows you to walk around all day, even in our super-light moccasins. Finding new talent for the shoemaking trade is a huge challenge. How do you address it?
