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Pfister, Andrea

Andrea Pfister was born in Pesaro, Italy in 1942. As a child, he moved to Switzerland where he was educated. Later, he returned to Florence to study art and languages at the University. In 1961, he took a course in shoe design in Ars Sutoria Institute of Footwear Design in Milan and the following year he was awarded first prize in the International Designers Contest in Amsterdam for the shoe named “Comedie”.

In 1963, he moved to Paris established himself as a designer for the haute couture collections of Lanvin and Jean Patou. Two years later he presented the first collection under his own name and in 1967 he opened his own shop in Paris.

In 1968 he returned to Italy and opened a small factory to produce his own collections. In 1974 he moved into his new factory in Vigevano, where along with his own line, he produced shoes for Krizia. At that time he started designing accessories: bags, belts, scarves and jewelry. In 1976 Pfister opened his second shop in Paris.

His exquisitely designed shoes, embellished with sequins, multicolored pearls, and lavish embroidery and applique, attest to his individual creativity, craftsmanship and attention to details, which is essentially Italian. Pfister’s colourful shoes are stylish and amusing and have earned him a worldwide reputation of a master shoe designer. His innovative shoes have adorned the feet of some of the world's most known celebrities, like Elizabeth Taylor and Madonna.

When composing a new design Andrea Pfister starts with color and revises his prototypes in several stages, balancing shapes, proportion, originality and comfort. The end result is a shoe that is elegant and original. “Colours, materials and clear lines are very important to me,” he says.