Why it belongs in ORBIS
A Rome footwear and leather-goods house opened in 1971 by Fausto Santini, son of a shoemaker, on Via Frattina near the Spanish Steps; known for sculptural, architecturally influenced shoe design developed with figures including Aldo Rossi.
Fausto Santini opened his first atelier on Via Frattina in Rome in 1971. He came from a shoemaking family — his father Giacomo Santini ran a shoe shop in Rome where Fausto apprenticed — though Fausto himself had trained as a lawyer before turning to footwear. The Via Frattina boutique, still operating today, established the house's identity early: rather than following seasonal fashion cues, Santini treated each shoe and bag as a formal design exercise, working with pared-back, geometric silhouettes that read closer to small sculpture than conventional footwear. That architectural approach was reinforced through direct collaborations with architects and designers, including Aldo Rossi, Andrea Branzi and Antonio Citterio, who worked with Santini on object and packaging design over the years. The house also operates an outlet location on Via Cavour, named for Fausto's father, selling past-season stock from the Via Frattina and Paris boutiques. Production remains based in Italy. Santini's minimalist, sculptural shoe designs have been referenced repeatedly in fashion and design press as a case of architectural thinking applied directly to footwear construction rather than surface decoration.