They call them digital artisans. They are young entrepreneurs who carry out traditional Italian manufacturing trades, but they do it in a smart way: integrating new tools into production processes or expanding their audience through the web and social networks.
Digital manufacturing is among the trends reported by StartupItalia for 2018. This month, the #SMDAYITONTHEROAD set off again to Pesaro to meet Olivia Monteforte, a digital artisan who makes custom-made shoes. In 2016 she was called by wwworkers to bring her experience to Montecitorio and has become a role model for many young crafters.
Hi Olivia, thank you for accepting this interview. Online you have become a reference point for many artisans who struggle to get their work out there. What channels do you use to make your business known?
I use social networks a lot, especially Facebook and Instagram. I am part of the Italian Stories network, the online showcase of digital stores. My website is under construction, but I do not plan an e-commerce section. Making custom-made shoes, each product is a story unto itself, there are no samples or predefined models. You have to get out of the traditional logic of buying: you don't buy something that already exists, but you build it together. This is my working method: each shoe is unique because it combines the customer's personality with careful research and design work.
How instrumental have social media been to your business?
I started the Facebook page in 2015. The amazing thing is that in less than 24 hours, thanks to shares, the page reached 500 fans. Since I opened the page, I have received several contacts from people and even news outlets. To this day, they still represent an important showcase for getting the word out about my business.
What does your logo represent?
Even in choosing the logo, I wanted to look for something that represented me. The search was not easy. Light blue is the color of the soles I make and is a recurring element of my creations. The strange bird in the image, on the other hand, is a blue-footed gannet, a peculiar specimen of a bird that during courtship shows off its legs by dancing.
How did you set up your online communication strategy?
At first, I didn't understand how to communicate on the web. I am a private person, I don't like to share everything that happens to me. What I did in the beginning is to organize the gallery as professionally as possible, to tell about my work and make my creations known.
Offline and online store, how do you tell about your work?
For me, it is very important to let people know the production process and the characteristics of the product, made by hand. Inspired by the web and social media, I wanted to create a kind of "open" space a large showcase that allows everyone to see my atelier workshop with full transparency, online as well as offline.
Ilenia Dalmasso