DESMA House Fair 2026: focus on lightweight design
On September 22nd and 23rd, the Desma House Fair returns to Achim, with a focus on lightweight DIP-process solutions in footwear manufacturing.
Keep reading...Football boots are no longer confined to the stadium. They can be found tucked under the jeans of those who haven’t played for years, in display cases designed for collectors, and on the shelves of archives that have become flagship stores. On 5 June 2026, Pantofola d’Oro added a new chapter to this evolution: it opened a 100-square-metre concept store at Via Seneca 4 in Milan. It did so within the Aretè Showroom. Not a standalone opening, not a single-brand temple: a space within the space of its own showroom.
The Thebe Magugu x Pantofola d’Oro capsule collection was presented at the opening. The South African designer — the same one who brought the codes of contemporary Africa to European catwalks — worked on the idea of street soccer. The result: kits with African influences, symbolic details, and footwear straddling the line between technical and lifestyle. On paper, it’s a classic formula: historic brand plus recognisable designer equals hype. In practice, it’s something more interesting. Football is one of the few truly universal languages left, and Magugu uses it as a pretext to talk about identity, inclusion and cultural belonging. In other words: a collection that doesn’t target those who buy because it’s fashionable, but those who buy because they see themselves in it.
The space launches with a promise that now accompanies every new opening in Milan, Paris and Tokyo: not to be a retail outlet, but an experiential space. The test will be the calendar. Pantofola d’Oro announces ongoing events, exclusive launches and ‘Su Misura’ appointments for footwear customisation, as well as future collaborations with partners from the world of sport and lifestyle. Customisation is the detail that makes the most sense. For a brand born from bespoke footwear for footballers, putting ‘artisanal craftsmanship’ back at the centre is an active way to forge a new community.
The brand’s history is worth remembering if only for the story behind its name. The name was coined by John Charles, the Welsh top scorer for Juventus, who, upon slipping on the shoes, exclaimed: ‘They’re more comfortable than my slippers’. That marked the start of 140 years for a brand founded in Ascoli Piceno by Emidio Lazzarini, an athlete and son of shoemakers, who applied the softest materials available to football — a minor revolution, inspired by his having remade his own extremely stiff wrestling boots — and then extended the same method to rugby, tennis, basketball, golf and cycling. When sport ceased to be a craft and became an industry, the brand struggled. Its revival came with Kim Williams and Massimo Ubaldi, who revived two models from 1950 and 1956 and adapted them for leisure wear. Tradition becomes trend. Those shoes can now be found in the windows of the world’s finest shops. Today, the Superleggera has reached version 2.0: just 175 grams.
