A look at GUIDI
An unprecedented devotion to art coupled with an uncanny respect for their ancestors accurately describes the craftsmanship of the fashion house: Guidi. Founded in 1896, Guido Guidi, Giovanni Rosellini and Gino Ulivo would later establish Conceria Guidi Rosellini, in Italian “Guidi-Rosellini Tannery” (Guidi, nd). In doing so, the trio succeeded in revolutionizing the masking of a handcrafted commodity that currently serves as the very core of fashion, leather. This turned out to be an honorable feat, regarding the settlement’s location in Tuscany, a region in central Italy in which leather tanneries date back to the Middle Ages.
Such an intrinsic connection to the manufacture of leather products is based on a deep understanding of the many types of leather, their individual properties and the most advantageous mechanisms in which they are produced. Guidi rebukes the ideology known as mass production, substituting the convenient mechanism for a more organic approach, demanding that all products be completely handmade, with no product serving as a duplicate of another, which explains why the production of these products is masterfully elongated to ensure optimal product growth is stable and transparent.
The first step in the processing of leather-based treasures is the fleshing of the respective mammal, ensuring that an optimal amount of thickness is achieved, Guidi allows himself three to five days to soften the hide using a prehistoric hand tool, known as “palmela”, followed by the use of similar glass and stone based tools used for oiling. As soon as the skin is palpably flattened, the skins are separately tanned, dyed and dried. All steps must be taken before Guidi will offer an item like the Guidi 988 boots (currently retailing for nearly $1,100 USD), where the exterior of the upper body and the lining of the shoe were constructed of the same unique piece of 100% horse leather (Farfetch, nd). A notable feature of Guidi products is ‘breathability’, which offers a superior level of comfort and durability for those who wear leather during any season, ensuring that the wearer gets a considerable amount of use from the product in the summer. as well as winter. However, Guidi is universally suited to the needs of its owner, beautifully embodying the concept of consumerism.
Currently, the creative director of the brand is Ruggero Guidi. Ruggero has successfully upheld the legacy of his predecessors with their inherited slavery to divinity. Much of this is due to his obsession with supreme leathers and respect for the family name, infused with a penchant for expanding the mantle given to him. He is constantly searching for a compromise between technological advances while utilizing the fundamentals of tanning. Ruggero stands as the leather tanner that the world’s most discerning fashion designers aspire to collaborate with. Whether it is to polish the raw materials or to dye the shoes as they fall. Guidi builds articles to show the degree of quality of the articles used in his work: a multitude of soft, delicately layered and pleasantly scented leathers, designed for enthusiasts who seek exclusivity in products that only a few can manufacture.
“The art of tanning” is an oft-repeated mantra throughout the brand’s history, reflecting its ancestors’ chronic implementation of grace amid the integration of modernization Guidi is the epitome of luxury and tradition, focusing on research carried out independently to solidify that each piece is distinctively characterized for the exclusive use of its rightful owner.
References
Guidi/Archive/Bio. (North Dakota). Retrieved on April 12, 2017, from http://www.guidi.it/archive/archive.html
Farfetch. Np, nd Web. April 12, 2017.
https://www.farfetch.com/shopping/men/guidi/items.aspx?q=guidi