Berluti again chooses the Simone & Cino Del Duca Foundation in Paris’s 8th arrondissement as the venue for showcasing its collections and savoir-faire. Besides the elegance of this historic townhouse, built from 1879–1881 and overlooking Parc Monceau, there are several parallels between the lives of Torello Berluti, son of the Maison’s founder Alessandro Berluti, and Cino Del Duca. Torello was born in Italy’s Marche region in 1895, and in the late 1920s he opened the first Berluti luxury shoe store in Paris. Cino Del Duca – also a native son of Marche – arrived in Paris in 1932 and set up France’s fourth largest publishing group. The Simone & Cino Del Duca Foundation was founded in 1975, with the aim of promoting the arts, literature and sciencesin France and internationally. This mission chimes perfectly with the vocation Berluti has pursued for over a century, that of catering to clients from around the world – be they artists, scientists, writers, actors, politicians or businessmen – who are aficionados of remarkable style from head to toe.
Entitled Champ-contrechamp – which translates as shot/reverse shot, a film technique that switches camera angles back and forth around a fixed position (usually to show both sides of a conversation) – this presentation showcases the intricacy and precision of the Maison’s craftsmanship. Behind the beauty of a Berluti shoe, bag or jacket lie countless subtle details, often imperceptible to anyone but a connoisseur, that are the true mark of excellence.
Conceived as an allegory of Berluti’s remarkable style, this game of shifting perceptions plays out on different levels over the building’s three storeys, gradually drawing visitors deeper into the Berluti realm with its myriad discoveries and initiations.
The Science of the Foot
Once inside the grand semi-circular arch of the entranceway, visitors are greeted by a silhouette whose remarkable style is drawing admiring glances from an array of eyes. Their curiosity piqued, they then turn towards the Grand Salon to be met by a monumental foot, worthy of Michelangelo’s David in the Galleria dell’Accademia. This sculpture reminds visitors how Berluti has been renowned this past century and more for its scientific understanding of the foot. At Berluti, it’s inconceivable that anyone should have to choose between comfort and elegance of form, especially now that we’re all trying to walk 10,000 steps a day – the WHO (World Health Organisation) actually recommends we do 150 to 300 minutes of physical exercise a week. On the floor around the sculpture, sheets of measurements conjure up the shoemaker’s expert knowledge of their craft, enabling them to fashion a shoe that fits the client’s foot precisely, both on top and underneath. With its 28 bones, 27 joints, 23 muscles and 100 ligaments, the foot is an anatomical treasure and the foundation stone for each body’s healthy posture and movements. Being able to read the contours of a foot – noticing a protruding fifth metatarsal, or a high instep – and crafting a last that accommodates these without any unwelcome bulges is the mark of true shoemaking artistry.
The art of the material
Next, visitors enter the Cordovan room, a space themed around the fine material that’s been interwoven with Berluti’s story since the Maison’s inception. Like his father Torello, who trained his son in leatherworking from the age of fifteen, Talbinio Berluti proved to have an extraordinary talent for cutting, among other things. His legacy lives on to this day in the work of the artisans at the Berluti Manifattura in Ferrara, Italy. A handsome hide laid out across a table speaks to their expertise in selecting and assessing leathers to identify the best sections to cut. Each skin has a specific use, with Venezia intended for shoes, a full-grained calfskin readied for the Maison’s signature patina, “saddle soft” leather for jackets, suede for the Forestière jacket… The name of this room is a nod to the origins of the shoemaking craft. In ancient Rome, there were nine citizens’ guilds, with shoemakers belonging to the fifth. This entitled them to operate from their own workshop, a status that underscored the importance of their occupation. The word “cordwainer” (an old word for shoemaker) first appeared in Western Europe in the 11th century, meaning an artisan who was authorised to work with Cordovan leather to craft luxurious shoes for the ruling class. These shoes were so valuable that people would even bequeath them in their wills.
The unmistakable Scritto
What better setting than a library for visitors to (re)discover Scritto leather? This signature Berluti pattern was inspired by a handwritten notarized deed from 1771. Its calligraphy is etched onto the surface grain of leather by laser, an effect that look equally poetic on an oxford lace-up, a cigar case, a polo shirt or an overcoat.
The City Bag
Immersed in these foundational elements of Berluti’s DNA, visitors now follow the shaft of light and ascend to the first floor. On their left, the Salon Vigny has been transformed into an irresistible candy box of colours and flavours to celebrate Jour de Poche, a super convenient compact bag to hold all your essentials and free up your hands. The Maison first launched its leather goods line in 2005 with a briefcase, subsequently adding the travel bag Deux Jours – one of Berluti’s star products – infusing the same creative panache into these accessories as always. Faithful to the design trinity of function, aesthetics and purpose, each piece brings more choice to the range of formats, leathers, colours and wearing styles on offer. Reprising the distinctive detailing of the Jour line – sheathed in Venezia leather, with an off-centre zipped outside pocket and a zipper tab in the shape of a leaf – Jour de Poche is a perfect hybrid of a Japanese inro and an overnight bag. The same size as a paperback book, this newcomer can go anywhere with you. As for colours, with shades like cognac, mimosa, Golf Scritto, grass green and Dark Cherry, it’s hard to pick a favourite.
“Ceci n’est pas une charentaise” (“This is not a slipper”)
The next stop, a few steps away, is the Salon Orange. This room showcases the Shadow, Berluti’s ultra-comfortable featherweight sneaker that weighs just 450 grams – about the same as two apples. Since the Maison wasn’t able to bring over painter René Magritte’s Ceci n’est pas une pomme (“This is not an apple”) from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Berluti borrows the artist’s wit and poetry to convey the disconnect between the real and its representation. The message “Ceci n’est pas une charentaise” (“This is not a slipper”) is displayed alongside designs that attest to continuous technological improvements. One such advance is a mesh, knitted with cooling engineered fibres – essential for hot-weather wear. A consummate fusion of inventive design and technical innovation, the Shadow sneaker (which you put on like a slip-on) combines the classic shoemaker aesthetic of a lace-up upper and three sets of eyelets with the comfort of a flexible, high performance sole in shock-absorbing memory foam.
Remarkable style
The townhouse’s second floor affords a beautiful view over Parc Monceau. In this space, visitors are able to fully appreciate the allure of the Berluti look. It’s a head-to-toe style that’s versatile enough to team easily with formal lace-ups or with sneakers, whichever best suit the mood. A particular hero piece of Berluti’s is the Forestière jacket, which looks as fabulous in midnight blue or lilac linen with an aloe vera finish as it does in lime-green serge wool. Other options include a fresh take on summery tweed in a weave of cashmere, wool, cotton, silk and linen that’s as original as it is exquisite.
To write up their story or article, visitors have a choice between settling down in the Grand Salon or heading out onto the terrace to sip their drink while enjoying views over the garden.
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BERLUTI BERLUTI SUMMER 2026
