Today, the crews of large cruise ships want a Neapolitan pizza chef on board. Something has indeed changed since UNESCO recognised ‘the Art of the Neapolitan Pizza Chef’. Note: not the pizza itself, which remains a recipe. The hands that make it. And with those hands, the demand to learn the trade has grown, to the point that the majority of applications come from abroad, from those who nevertheless wish to train in Italy. What does this have to do with footwear?

On 11 June 2026, in the Salone degli Arazzi at the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, during the 2026 General Assembly of Assocalzaturifici, the application process for the Art of Italian Footwear to be included on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage was presented. The meeting, moderated by Nicola Porro, formalised the Promoting Committee: it is chaired by Giovanna Ceolini of Assocalzaturifici and comprises Museimpresa, CERCAL and Politecnico Calzaturiero. The initiative, promoted by the Ministry, entrusts the Committee and the UNESCO Chair at Unitelma Sapienza University with the task of drafting the dossier and engaging the communities of practitioners, a key element of the 2003 UNESCO Convention.

“Italian footwear represents one of the most recognisable expressions of our production system,” said Minister Adolfo Urso: supporting the nomination “means strengthening a production model that sets Italy apart in the world”.

A HERITAGE TO BE PRESERVED. In addition to Urso, speakers included Antonio Calabrò, president of Museimpresa, via video message, Marco Amato, vice-president of Museimpresa, Serena Musolesi, CEO of Cercal, and Alice Marcato, technical director of the Polytechnic of Footwear.

GENERATIONS OF EXCELLENCE. The second panel brought together the Minister of Education and Merit Giuseppe Valditara, Federico Eichberg, Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, and Giovanni Brugnoli, President of the Fondazione Imprese e Competenze per il Made in Italy.

THE ITALIAN ART OF SHOEMAKING: CULTURE, MEMORY, IDENTITY. The concluding panel featured Pier Luigi Petrillo, director of the UNESCO Chair at Unitelma Sapienza, Giovanna Ferragamo Gentile, president of the Ferragamo Foundation, Marco Nocivelli, vice-president of Confindustria with responsibility for Industrial Policy and Made in Italy, Minister Plenipotentiary Filippo La Rosa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs),

Davide Rampello, cultural manager and lecturer, and sociologist Francesco Morace, president of Future Concept Lab.

Here is the point: the nomination does not defend an object, but rather a know-how. The 2003 Convention does not reward the most beautiful product, but the community that passes it down. Nor does it ask for uniqueness: the opposite is true, because the more a tradition engages with others, the more it is valued.

Identity, memory and culture risk becoming worn out if they remain overused words or are left to the ravages of time. The dossier serves to prevent this. Petrillo pointed out that the recognition concerns a living system of practices and communities, with economic, cultural and professional implications. Giovanna Ferragamo Gentile highlighted the continuity between the creative, technical and productive dimensions: ‘My father [Salvatore Ferragamo, ed.] would sketch the design on the wooden last because he knew that, before being beautiful, the shoe had to fit comfortably.’ Nocivelli and La Rosa emphasised local storytelling and soft power: quality opens up the market, but it is the story that makes people choose that shoe over another.

The key issue running through the supply chain remains: who will take up the baton? The sector admits it: it has communicated poorly, allowing the factory to sound like a fallback option. The bid is therefore linked to human capital. “Schools and technical-vocational training are called upon to build the skills that will underpin the future of Made in Italy. We must strengthen the link between education and work and guide young people towards pathways that combine quality, specialisation and opportunity,’ observed Valditara. Footwear schools, established within the districts, now teach cutting and assembly alongside CAD, 3D printing and eco-design: from the manual to the digital, without one excluding the other. It is precisely the vocational schools and the story of an advanced, fascinating and innovative industrial sector—one that offers excellent opportunities for growth and career development—that are tasked with attracting new generations who are well-prepared and capable of keeping alive a tradition that is vital for Italy, including in terms of exports and the balance of trade.

The project has garnered the support of the main regions in the sector — Lombardy, Veneto, Marche, Puglia, Campania, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany — a sign of its national scope. Rampello saw in it a synthesis of tradition and innovation; Morace turned the usual formula on its head: true tradition is not preserved, but is passed on, generation after generation, whilst also emphasising the value of the Italian Factor and the need to create new forms of generational engagement.

In closing, Giovanna Ceolini, President of Assocalzaturifici and the Promoting Committee, highlighted the significance of the initiative: ‘This proposal stems from a desire to recognise the cultural value of a heritage that belongs to the entire country. Italian footwear combines technical expertise, regional identity and the ability to evolve over time. It is an opportunity to showcase a wealth of knowledge that forms an essential part of our manufacturing identity.’

Let’s return to the cruise ships. That pizza chef is no longer in demand today because someone has found a magic recipe, but because his value has been recognised and dignity has been restored to his trade. The challenge taken up in Rome is the same: to demonstrate that even for a shoe, hands remain the instrument of intelligence, and the individual and their know-how remain crucial.

The initiative launches a national project aimed at promoting the heritage of skills, traditions and manufacturing capabilities that characterise the Italian supply chain.

The Consortium, which brings together the leading Italian companies specialising in the production of sole leather and boasts an internationally recognised manufacturing heritage, received the award for excellence in the Italian supply chain at the MF Value Chain Awards 2026, held during the Milan Fashion Global Summit on 21 September.

 “This recognition confirms the value of a supply chain that combines quality, expertise and the ability to innovate. For Cuoio di Toscana, it is an incentive to continue promoting Italian know-how and forging new links with the international fashion world,” commented the board of Cuoio di Toscana.

It is precisely with this aim of forging new connections with the worlds of fashion, design and contemporary creativity that the collaboration with Paul Andrew came about; during Milan Fashion Week, he presented the new women’s capsule collection by Paul Andrew x Cuoio di Toscana, entitled He(ART). Developed through a dialogue between the Consortium’s expertise and the international designer’s creative vision, the collection centres on ‘The Fettuccine’, an ironic, sophisticated and deeply Italian tribute to Italian style.

The idea stems from the production of fettuccine and the possibility of applying a technology similar to that used for pasta to the material, allowing for precise control over thickness and length. In Paul Andrew’s design, thin strips of Tuscan leather become structural elements of the footwear, intertwining to create a unique silhouette.

The footwear market is cooling, driven by a complex international economic climate and a profound shift in consumer tastes, as people grow weary of mass-produced minimalism.

Outlining this transition is fashion designer Lucio Righetto, who states that the energy crisis, geopolitical conflicts both within and beyond Europe’s borders, and the effects of climate change are inevitably influencing purchasing habits – all macroeconomic factors compounded by aesthetic saturation: the public is showing growing weariness with the ubiquity of white trainers or those with an ‘essential’ design – to be clearly distinguished from the technical, performance-oriented models produced by the sports giants.

To understand the evolution currently underway, we need to look to the recent past. As early as around 2005, trainers had become a cornerstone of everyday life, before finally being accepted between 2019 and 2020 even in formal, elegant settings and in the workplace. Today, however, that momentum seems to have run out of steam. There is a growing desire for a more refined style – a sophisticated take on casual wear that is suited to everyday life. Although a segment of less discerning or informed consumers continues to buy sports and streetwear footwear, this market is steadily shrinking.

The real change is being driven by those seeking a stylistic shift and who are swapping trainers for loafers. This resurgence, which has also been influenced by recent films, evokes Michael Jackson’s iconic style and offers a more formal look, embraced by both men and women alike. This revolution, however, does not extend to teenagers and the very young, for whom sportswear and trainers remain deeply ingrained in their DNA. The shift towards elegance, on the other hand, specifically involves the 30-and-over age group. At the same time, in the world of women’s footwear, we are witnessing a major comeback of heels and decidedly more sophisticated styles.

This reversal of the trend will undoubtedly breathe new life into the footwear market, a sector that has long shown clear signs of stagnation and which, thanks to this breath of fresh air, is set to regain momentum, although it is unlikely to replicate the splendour and extraordinary sales volumes of the last twenty years.