Ahead of its spring 2024 show on Sunday, Area has revealed a new footwear licensing partnership with Giuseppe Zanotti.
The multi-season deal will see the Italian luxury footwear label manage the design, production and wholesale distribution of the New York-based womenswear brand’s shoe collection. The new category will debut during Area’s New York Fashion Week see-now-buy-now show this weekend.
For its inaugural project, around 30 signature styles, including platforms, flats and pumps were developed within Giuseppe Zanotti’s Italian production facilities. The styles will feature design elements that align with Area’s spring/summer 2024 collection inspiration – eyes. From vintage 1920s cartoon googly eyes, surrealist art movement fascinations with the eye, and graphic pop art, amongst others, the theme will be seen throughout the collection.
The footwear line will be immediately available for sale alongside the full Area fashion collection on the brand’s website as well as at Bergdorf Goodman and FWRD, following its spring/summer 2024 runway show on Sunday.
The next collection, fall/winter 2024, will be shown to international wholesale clients starting later this month at the Giuseppe Zanotti showroom in Milan as well as the Tomorrow showrooms in Milan and Paris.
Beckett Fogg, co-founder and CEO of Area, said in a statement on Tuesday that the company is “proud” of this new “dynamic” partnership that aims to leverage Giuseppe Zanotti’s Italian heritage craftsmanship and innovation to highlight Area’s signature embellishments and techniques. “Together, we present a collection which expands the Area universe, aligned in a vision to become the new face of global luxury,” Fogg said.
“I love Piotrek’s and Beckett’s multi-faceted and evolving vision of femininity, I think we speak to the same woman,” Mr. Zanotti added. “Also, their passion for innovative embellishments and quality craftsmanship perfectly fit with our design DNA and time-honored expertise. The collection is vibrant, it’s like the music we both love listening to for inspiration.”
This is not the first time Giuseppe Zanotti has worked with another brand on shoes. In late 2020, Zanotti inked a footwear licensing deal with Alexandre Vauthier. The Paris-based designer — who is now in the third year of a licensing partnership with Zanotti — bowed his first shoe collection with the brand for pre-fall 2021. This is Giuseppe Zanotti’s only other licensing deal, according to the Italian company.
Separately, the Italian shoe brand teamed up with designer Nicolò Beretta to develop a new footwear line dubbed “Nicolò Beretta mentored by Giuseppe Zanotti,” which debuted for fall 2023.
Prior to working with Giuseppe Zanotti, Area worked with Sergio Rossi on a collection of shoes since 2022.
