#backstage n.2 / A life on his feet

Welcome to #backstage, the newsletter that takes you behind the scenes of my work. But as I love to chat, it’s much more than that – it’s a journey through my anecdotes, memories, encounters. And it’s a way to meet the people who work with me – some have joined quite recently but many others have been here for a long time. People without whom “MarcoMoreo” would just be a name. My name.

#backstage n.2 / A life on his feet

«63 years on my feet.» That’s what Giancarlo said yesterday, as a bit of a joke. He popped in to say hello – he often does even though he hasn’t worked with us for a while now.

«When I’m sitting at home with nothing to do, it feels strange. I start moving around on my chair, restless, and in the end, I find myself standing up without even realising it. I’ve been working on my feet my entire life, I’m not used to sitting down. I’ve been on my feet for 63 years.»

Giancarlo is 72 years old and has been working from the age of 9. No, no, not with us! I wasn’t even born then, and MarcoMoreo certainly didn’t exist! 

Perhaps today it sounds strange to talk about someone who started working as a child. But those were different times, it was the post-war period and Italy’s economic boom needed workers... 

So, instead of going to school, Giancarlo began working with shoes, scraps of leather, zips, hooks, glue, heels, soles... He built a profession for himself, based on a lot of experience and old-fashioned discipline. There were no fixed working hours for him and no holidays – work and life were practically the same thing.

For years, when he was close to retiring, he helped us with his infinite expertise. He was the one who turned the first sketches produced by Eros – today our creative director – into the first shoe prototypes. He was the one who taught us how to understand the strengths and possible weaknesses of an idea.

His entire world was downstairs, his days spent among thousands of shelves lined with bobbins, leather, tools, zips, soles and shapes... On his feet, of course.

Now Giancarlo has been retired for quite some time, but he still drops by to say hello every now and then. And just as before, it’s really very difficult to get him to sit down! 

Ciao ♥️
Marco