When you hear the name Del Toro, you think of the art of craftsmanship and heritage. This derives from their essence of Italian heritage combined with Americana. Contemporary art has always been a central part of Del Toro‘s DNA. They treat each shoe and product as wearable art and extend this vision especially with their artist series.
For the past 8 years, Del Toro has released a series of shoes with artists. Some include Daniel Arsham, Rob Pruitt, Devin Troy, Eduardo Sarabia, Alec Monopoly, Michael Vasquez, Johnny Robles, and Typoe among others. Del Toro‘s artist series are a partnership where they collaborate with artists to create a limited edition shoe designed by the artist and Matthew Chevallard. Marrying the aesthetic of the brand and each artist’s vision produces a beautiful byproduct.
This year, Del Toro chose two artists to work with. Brent Wadden is a Canadian artist who Matthew Chevallard, Creative Director and President of Del Toro, fell in love with and starting collecting two years ago. ”I have an affinity for textile based art mainly due to my passion in footwear and clothing. Brent handlooms all his pieces and each piece convey a celebration of craftsmanship with each being entirely unique. I found it to be incredibly fitting to work with Brent on translating his work to our Chukka. I utilized a full-embroidered back panel so as to translate his weaving process with suede paring in an indigo and black set of color ways,” says Chevallard.
Del Toro is launching the Brent Wadden collection at The Webster: 1220 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL. These designs will retail for $425.00.
The second artist Del Toro collaborated with is English artist, Richard Woods. Richard is an amazing artist who plays with textures and architectural applications to bring excitement to very traditionally bland surfaces. “I have an especially sentimental connection to Richard because he painted the restaurant in my deceased father’s apartment building in Torino, Italy where he lived for over ten years and I associate many childhood memories with Richard‘s work. I translated Richard‘s work in a similar way he applies his work to building facades and floors by applying it to the “wall” or back panel of the chukka in a digitally printed format on Bottalato leather paired with the same leather in different color. The slipper is a more straightforward wood panel application to give one the effect of walking on a floor in a figurative and literal way,” Chevallard describes.
Del Toro is launching the Richard Woods collection for both men and women in the Miami Del Toro boutiques, but they will also be available in the New York and Detroit Del Toro boutiques. These designs will retail for $395.00 for Chukkas and $375.00 for slippers.
Del Toro has put together an event to celebrate the release on December 7th. The event will take place at the Mezzanine Lounge of Habitat restaurant inside the 1 Hotel Miami Beach. Guests will gather to appreciate the designs while enjoying tapas by Chef Jose Mendin and specialty cocktails.
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