DIS was created in 2015 thanks to brothers Andrea and Francesco Carpineti’s and Michele Luconi’s intuition, their desire to give impetus to Italian craftsmanship and to create innovative solutions for the retail sector thanks to digital technology. DIS – Design Italian Shoes is the footwear brand of customized shoes that renews the excellence of Italian craftsmanship thanks to the most advanced with technology. A way to bring about the evolution of old manufacture: with the 3D configurator, accessible on the site designitalianshoes.com, consumers become the protagonists of a craftsmanlike production process that is integrated into digital customization.
Through the photorealistic renderings created by the software, consumers can choose the shoe model, customize it with a few clicks and have it custom made in Italy, in just 10 days. A real creative process that makes it possible to play with 50 million combinations of materials, leathers, laces, soles and finishes, down to engraving, in order to create the perfect shoe, unique and certified, inimitable, like the identity of the person who has designed it.
Francesco Carpineti, CCO of DIS, tells us how the idea was born:
“Our mission is that of creating work in Italy, promoting Made in Italy products, craftsmanship and craftsmen, since they are all overshadowed by the internet these days.
We thought that this project could benefit the Marche territory and innovate especially men’s footwear, which represents the profound tradition of our district, going back to the thirteen hundreds”.
How did it go in the beginning?
“It is difficult to convince the territory’s various productive realities to go back to a way of working that belongs to the past, pair after pair and piece after piece, without creating stocks of semi-finished products, but building, instead, the soles that are necessary, for example.
We chose, right from the beginning, productive realities that were different from each other, each one of them specializing in a specific processing method, so as to offer customers a comprehensive range”.
You offer a ridiculously high number of combinations. How do you manage that?
“We were very good at organizing the work, at sharing some facilities with our partners and at choosing shoe factories and suppliers that are able to provide materials quickly. In general, valuable and permanent materials that do not necessarily reflect trends but are in line with evergreens”.
What additional services do you offer?
“The free test model (only for the EU), free shipping (in the EU and US), the on-demand care and repair service, the money-back guarantee, the lifetime warranty, the real-time personal styling support service, the customer care service and the 24/7 live chat service”.
How are you present in stores?
“We have developed a multi-channel concept by also developing the traditional in-store shopping experience with the innovative 3D Shopping Experience service: with a few clicks on the DIS 3D configurator, especially developed and structured to be placed in retail stores as a touch screen, customers can customize the shoe they have personally chosen among the models on display, thus having a unique experience, while the store gets rid of warehouse stocks”.
Are you also looking to the women’s sector?
“Our first and current goal is to consolidate all that we have built so far, therefore to grow in the men’s sector and to optimize services.
Of course, we are looking to women too, and we hope we will be able to integrate them into the DIS offer as early as next year. Partly because it is a very interesting market segment, especially in terms of sales volumes”.
Where are you being most successful?
“No-one is a prophet in their own country. Indeed, 90% of our turnover is abroad, where Made in Italy products continue to have great appeal, and where the charm of the technological element has more weight.
Furthermore, the interface of our system is very intuitive and visual, therefore we were able to overcome any linguistic barrier easily”.
What is the next market you would like to approach?
“There are so many. We are a young company that still needs to grow a lot. We cover America ever so slightly, and many other European markets would be interesting”.
What is the greatest satisfaction you have had so far?
“To have been able to enter Japan’s market, in important facilities, with a collection of sneakers made in Italy with high-quality materials. An extremely important test for us, which we are proud to have passed”.
And in terms of figures?
“Very positive, I must say. We doubled our turnover in comparison with last year, and we have 50 stores worldwide (in 13 nations, mostly in China). With e-commerce, instead, we are present in 30 countries”.
