GUIDI: THE TRADITION OF LEATHER MEETS FASHION
Imagine walking in real leather shoes with a modern, urban and slightly rude style. Guidi shoes have the perfect design and materials. And all the refinement of shoes handmade in Italy.

What distinguishes Guidi shoes from other handmade footwear?
Merging technology and respect for an ancient tradition: this is Guidi’s aim in creating their shoes. And since their base is the Guidi-Rosellini tannery, founded in 1896, this connection to tradition gets even stronger. Especially since the company’s located in Tuscany, where leather manufacturing dates back to the Middle Ages.

Having such roots implies a thorough knowledge of all kinds of leather, of their properties and of the craft techniques to produce them. But for Guidi shoes it also means:

• creating completely handmade products: people at Guidi refuse mass production because they want people to get something unique. So Guidi shoes and boots perfectly fit the feet of the people who wear them, and you won’t find any pair which is completely identical to another;
• natural dyeing techniques, to follow traditional manufactures: production hasn’t changed much over time, and neither have the products used for dyeing and tanning. To make hides more rigid, for example, they use chestnut tannin. Besides, each pair of shoes is coloured separately;
• slow production: it takes 3-5 days just to soften the skins, which happens at the very beginning of the production cycle. After that, the skins must be cleaned, tanned, dyed, dried and finished, before one can use them to produce an item such as the Guidi PL1 boots, made of calf leather. This is the most common kind of leather, because it’s strong, hard-wearing and with the widest surface fit for use;
  
• durability: these shoes were originally meant for people working in the open air, such as farmers and shepherds, so they had to be tough. If you take care of them properly, then, they’ll keep wear-resistant and absolutely waterproof;
• modern design: Guidi shoes transform classical shapes by looking at modern trends. Even elegant women’s shoes such as the Guidi 2004, for example, have an aged touch, thanks to the natural wrinkles of leather and to the footwear’s finishing;
  
• accessories meant to last and be loved: leather backpacks and bags like Guidi M10 are capacious, in dark or earthy tones which make them ideal for people moving in the city. And they’re designed to withstand wear and scratchings;
• but most of all, using particular leathers.

The unexpected leathers of shoes like Guidi PL1, Guidi 796z and Guidi MC87
Craft production requires refined materials, too. Sometimes, even astonishing ones. The proof of this are the 3 pairs of shoes we’ve decided to describe as examples of the quality uncommon materials can hide:

• the Guidi 796z boots are made of horse leather, by far the most durable leather;
  
• the Guidi 310 boots are produced with perforated bison leather, extremely hard-wearing, too, but pliable and characterised by a rough and waxy surface;
• the Guidi MC87 women’s shoes are made of donkey leather, durable but soft to the touch.
  

In our Guidi online shop section you’ll find other kinds of leather, as well, like the one derived from kangaroo.