Dedication, curiosity, a taste for challenges, team-thinking and open-mindedness are the cornerstones of Casadei’s tradition. These traits have forged the uniquely experimental nature of Casadei’s footwear in terms of aesthetics and style, but above all wearability. As Cesare’s father Quinto used to say: “A beautiful but uncomfortable shoe is not a shoe.” In the late 1950s, he was the first to realise that the shoe-manufacturing area around the town of San Mauro Pascoli showed enormous potential to establish itself on the luxury footwear market. “We have always involved this area in our reasoning and activity,” confirms Cesare. “Our shoes are the result of teamwork, which extends the Casadei family to embrace its employees and the companies that contribute to the production process.” Hearing about the 200 steps required to create a finished Casadei shoe is like retracing an age-old process, inspired by the same “determination to make the best” that underlies all of Italy’s finest production and craftsmanship. To arrive at the end product, the initial idea passes through thousands of hands and second thoughts, dozens of tests and evaluations, not to mention colours, materials and shapes.

Casadei’s employees are part of the family. Their roles are well-defined yet fluidly intersecting, and the challenge of making something new each season seems more of an enjoyment than a chore. In the Casadei mindset there’s no such thing as ephemeral, even if it’s implicit in the concept of fashion. For them, even a successful result leaves room for improvement, and the limits of materials, shapes and colours can always be overcome. After all, if, as Cesare says, sources of inspiration can be found everywhere – “at an exhibition, the theatre, in the street, and of course by observing customers in the shop” – one can only deduce that at Casadei the mood board changes on a daily basis, as befits a company that is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Six decades of growth and success, made possible by that uniquely engaging spirit encapsulated in a “family feeling”.