About

BIO

Italian designer Gioia Maini has a professional artistic background which embraces the global universe of the arts and provides an endless source of inspiration for her weird and wonderful creations.

Having studied at the Institute of Art in her home-town, Bologna, industrial design in nearby Florence and dance – a lifelong passion – Gioia transferred to Barcelona in order to gain specialisations in photography and costume design. She consequently remained in the Catalan city for another 8 years, working in the field of costume design for the theatre and cinema. This behind-the-scenes role gave her a valuable insight into the complex procedures that go into the creation of a garment or, even more fascinating to Gioia, a pair of shoes.

Emerging from a personal crisis with renewed strength and energy, the young designer felt the desire to become her own boss and enjoy the freedom to express her creativity to the full. Drawn by the fetishist role of shoes, as well as by the architecture of footwear, Gioia took a course in practical shoemaking before dedicating her considerable creative energy to shoe design.

The Gioia Maini little empire was launched launched.

BRAND

Unconventional and quirky, each Gioia Maini collection makes a bold statement, conveying its own mood in an ironic, edgy manner to add humour and character to every moment of the day.

The shoes incorporate influences from a rich cross-over of the arts and sub-cultures such as British punk and Japanese aesthetics, whilst not forgoing their roots within Italy’s immense design heritage.

Gioia Maini shoes are 100% made in Italy using the finest materials and unrivalled Italian craftsmanship in adherence with the principles of slow fashion, placing respect and awareness to the forefront.

Many of the shoes feature original hand-painted motifs, fragments of illustrations and other exclusive details, making them genuine works of art – iconic items that are refreshingly free from the restrictions of seasonality, age or gender.
These are shoes for the woman who is free to be who she wants to be and the man who is not afraid to fly.

gioia maini