Augusta1923 - Simone Cecchetto

A1923 are particularly known for their handmade shoes and boots. Simone Cecchetto's new line is called Adiciannoveventitre.

Simone Cecchetto, the Italian designer and creator of the artisanal leather line and shoe-maker Augusta. Lauded for its rumpled, old-world leather footwear crafted from exotic hides doesn’t just work with regular leathers but have introduced horse, pig and fish skins to their footwear range.  Simone Cecchetto constructs every shoe by hand and even cultures his own leather, distinguishing himself as one of the most passionate leather artisans today. Augusta was founded in 2007 by  Simone Cecchetto and named after Simone's grandmother.The name was changed from Augusta to A1923 for a period and then changed again to Adiciannoveventitre. His product carry a motto of "do not handle with care" and which makes sense once you feel and experience it and grow older along with it. Truly a master of leather who loves and married his work.

Simone Cecchetto is a friend of Maurizio Altieri of another cult brand, Carpe Diem and probably got inspired by Altieri's vision. Adiciannoveventitre or A1923 or as most dearly called Augusta is based in Rome works on hand crafted masterpieces in different leathers from the traditional Calf, Pig, Horse, Cordovan, Camel to exotic ones like Antelope, Stingray, Bison, Kudu, Lama to create unique pieces. He presented the first collection of a small batch of Augustas in Paris in 2006. Simon said in an interview that he was inspired by Norman Rockwell, the famed American painter and illustrator of 20th century to Japanese Manga.

Simon Cechetto never studied shoe design in any formal way, but learnt the intricacies starting from stitch, shape, style, leather hides, it's treatment & processing, pattern development, molding etc all by his own. All his shoes are hand made and he even culture the leather himself to ensure the desired outcome. The soles are made of different layers of leather stacked and uses wooden nails to attach the pieces. As a result, each pair is slightly different and he love the variations and the outcome of his labor.

Simon uses interesting techniques to create different color and patina by using natural dyes which results in amazing colorations.

Those are done on purpose!!

Linen over leather boots

The peeling effect, pretty gnarly looking though.

Augusta's shape evolved over the years from the slightly square toe box to it's trademark lifted tips, which is kind of cool. All in all, Simone Cecchetto is passionate about his work no matter how intimidating or old world appealing they are.