Italy has long been renowned for its artisans, artisans who have revolutionised age old techniques taken from around the world to form their own that ultimately surpass the original. One such technique is 'Intrecciato', Intrecciato derives from the Italian verb, intrecciare, which means to weave, braid or intertwine. The intrecciato technique takes cues from ancient basket weavers who would intertwine straw and the like to create surprisingly sturdy baskets, intrecciato takes these same principles and applies them to leather, taking thin strips of leather off cuts and weaving them together to create one large solid piece.

As with the basket weavers' use of seemingly useless straw, the art of intrecciato no doubt came from the frugal mentality of  Italians in years past, where nothing was left to waste. From this mentality came ingenuity and inventiveness that has born many works of art. This mentality runs deep in the veins of Italians and is evident in all aspects of Italian life, from fashion to food, many Italian dishes utilise minimal ingredients and often off cuts of meat to create a gastronomic masterpiece. It is this constant frugality and simplicity with a touch of Italian flair, that has ensured Italy remains on top amongst the nations that consider themselves creators of elegance and good taste.

Here at L'bardi, we aim to conserve the artisanal skills that Italy is renowned for, which is why we still make everything by hand in our 'Laboratorio', using minimal machinery for the construction of our footwear. Naturally, L'bardi as a purveyor of Italian artisans, has utilised 'la pelle intrecciata' in our new range of sneakers. However instead of only using off cuts of leather, L'bardi only uses the finest leathers, purposely cut for the intrecciato technique. Traditionally the intrecciato technique calls for strips of leather cut about 1cm wide, which is difficult and fiddly to weave in themselves, however we go a step further and have cut the strips even finer, which is difficult to weave even for the most skilled artisan. It is through these design ideas that L'bardi pushes the boundaries of leather and ultimately sets us apart from other shoe makers.

Visit our men's collection to see how we utilise the intrecciato technique

www.lbardi.com/collections/men