Tod’s Gommino loafers reinvented in a Hender Scheme collaboration unveiled at Milan Fashion Week
- Ryo Kashiwazaki’s Hender Scheme has taken the luxury Italian brand’s knobbly-soled loafers and run with them, increasing the size of the distinctive bobbles
- The collaborative collection is gender neutral, and combines Tod’s traditions with Hender’s contemporary, eye-catching designs
A play on words goes to the heart of a collaboration between Italian luxury brand Tod’s and one of Japan’s most innovative designers. Hender Scheme’s Ryo Kashiwazaki has taken the Italian firm’s “Gommino” shoe soles to a new extreme in a capsule collection, unveiled in September at Milan Fashion Week.
Kashiwazaki, 35, set up the Hender Scheme atelier in Tokyo’s Asakusa district in 2010 with the ambition of creating products that bring together contemporary and eye-catching designs and high-quality, traditional craftsmanship.
He describes his approach to creating shoes as “new craft” and says the opportunity to work with the craftsmen and production team of a company that dates back to 1920 was “very exciting”. He believes he also opened Tod’s eyes to new possibilities.
“I do not have a specific iconic designer who influenced me as I was starting out, perhaps because I never formally studied fashion, but I see it from the perspective of a consumer of fashion,” Kashiwazaki tells the Post.
No matter how much technology progresses, the skills of artisans will always remain important
“I guess my earliest interest in shoes came from playing football, so I was interested initially in football boots,” he says.