Francesco Russo

Hailing from southern Italy, Francesco grew up watching his seamstress mother at work, later studying fashion in Milan. After two decades as creative director of the shoe collections for major brands – Costume National, Miu Miu, Sergio Rossi, Dior, and YSL, where he designed the iconic cage boot – at 40 he finally struck out on his own, launching his own (wholly self-funded) footwear line in 2013. Today from his Paris atelier-boutique, Francesco celebrates the stiletto as both an architectural object and a tool of seduction.