A NEW INTERVIEW WITH FAREWELL FOOTWEAR, BETWEEN NEW MODELS AND EXPERIMENTATION

Novelty is no longer a fundamental aspect in fashion. By now it is repeated too often that everything has already been done, conceived. So, how is it possible for brands to untie themselves from homologation and, above all, from boredom? There are two possible paths: to create a timeless, classical, or experimental aesthetic, albeit remaining functional. This is well known by the friends and founders of Farewell Footwear in 2013 Marta Bagante, Giulia Bison and Federico Grassi, who tell in this new interview what the novelties of 2018 for the shoe brand are.

Guys, the last time I interviewed you for Wait! it was in June 2017. Now, after few months, the news is that you have given away a brand restyling. What does it consist of?

As you already know we have chosen the name Farewell for its meaning, for us it means goodbye to boredom: it is a way of life. We therefore wanted to abandon also preconceptions of the fashion system such as seasonality and the collection in the classical sense. Now Farewell is a set of three families of continuous “forever” mono-products, where the technical string is a common thread. Specifically: the collection of espadrilles Rope, is pop and carefree, the Holiday collection consists of a moccasin tied with a cassette bottom, more casual and sporty and, finally, the NSWE collection (north, south, west and east): an experimental and daring project lasting four years, which will see each year launch a special product. In 2018 it is WEST, a formal leather shoe with a Texan look decorated with a stringing.

It all started with a re-edition of an iconic shoe, especially during the summer: espadrilles. Is this new image of Farewell Footwear due to the fact that this shoe is no longer in vogue?

Today everything is worth … and nothing! We think fashion is very fragmented today. Espadrilles represents for us a casual approach and a desire for a holiday, rather than a fashion issue that is an end in itself. For this reason, in 2018 we will redesign a selection of our cult pieces and propose them as basic continuos.

Has something changed from the point of view of quality and production?

The Holiday and NSWE collections are made in Italy, the quality is therefore artisanal and controlled directly by us of the team, for the collection with rope-bound bottom we are developing a new, more industrialized, technical and light fund.

What has not changed is the concept of unisex fashion products. Why do you keep on believing in this aesthetic aspect?

It is not only unisex but also a feminine-masculine: we girls of the team believe in a daily approach à la garçonne, so comfortable, practical, functional and at the same time playful.

Do you plan to expand your product range, perhaps extending it to other accessories?

Sure. Thinking of the concept of farewell to boredom, exploration, travel, remembering the holidays (and the unexpected use of the technical rope) the possibilities are endless: we are in fact planning developments on other accessories as well as furnishing objects.

Some collateral project for the future?

We are concentrating on content by creating special editorial projects: for us the images and stories we tell are as important as the product, not by chance we have an atypical communication agency that combines art direction and product design, in particular shoes: Motel 409. On the agenda we also have international collaborations, not trivial, just as our concept.

farewellfootwear.com