Anello & Davide
Encyclopedia
Anello & Davide is a footwear
company based in Covent Garden, London. It specialises in ballet shoes
and theatrical footwear as well as making high quality fashion footwear for men and women. They are perhaps best known as the shoemakers responsible for the Beatle boot.
's shoe with a bar strap and ribbon bows. These shoes were able to be easily customised by the wearer. It was a mark of recognition for Anello & Davide's footwear when two of their designs were selected to complete two of the first three Dress Of The Year
ensembles. They provided black leather kinky boots
to accompany a Mary Quant
ensemble in 1963, and a pair of shoes for a John Bates dress in 1965.
originated at Anello & Davide in the early 1960s. When John Lennon
and Paul McCartney
of The Beatles
saw Chelsea boots in the shop, they commissioned four pairs with Cuban heel
s. This modified version of a Chelsea boot is now known as a Beatles boot..
Anello & Davide footwear is frequently mentioned in passing in theatrical memoirs and biographies of the mid-20th century London scene. The Beatle boots had a particular mystique, with Mark Feld (later Marc Bolan) purchasing his first pair from Anello & Davide after a London-wide search for the perfect footwear to complete his Mod outfit. Barbara Orbison, the widow of the singer Roy Orbison
, remembered how when she met her future husband in 1968, his boots were always made by Anello & Davide.
In addition to the Beatles, Anello & Davide list Marilyn Monroe
, Peter Ustinov
, Orson Welles
, Margaret Rutherford
, Jane Fonda
and David Niven
as having been amongst their celebrity customers. They have also provided footwear to stage musicals such as Cats
and Mamma Mia and to films including the Indiana Jones
and Star Wars
franchises.
Anello & Davide are occasionally credited as the shoemakers who made the ruby slippers
worn by Judy Garland
as Dorothy Gale
in The Wizard of Oz
. This is not the case, as surviving shoes for the 1939 film are clearly labelled as being from the Innes Shoe Company in Los Angeles. On their website, Anello & Davide simply state they have been "called upon to create unforgettable cinema icons - such as Dorothy's unforgettable red slippers The Wizard of Oz.". It is more probable that the firm provided the plain red leather shoes with Louis heels that were customised for the 1985 film Return To Oz
, or at the very least, made replicas for stage productions.
was seriously damaged by fire, destroying their stock, machinery and their collection of celebrity foot casts. Among the casts lost were those of Queen Elizabeth II
and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
.
In May 2004, Anello & Davide produced their first ready-to-wear shoe collection for men. They offered 25 contemporary/classic designs, including slip-on loafers and scooter boots.
Footwear
Footwear consists of garments worn on the feet, for fashion, protection against the environment, and adornment. Being barefoot is commonly associated with poverty, but some cultures chose not to wear footwear at least in some situations....
company based in Covent Garden, London. It specialises in ballet shoes
Ballet shoes
Ballet shoes, or ballet slippers, are lightweight shoes designed specifically for ballet dancing. They may be made from soft leather, canvas, or satin, and have flexible, thin soles. Traditionally, women wear pink shoes and men wear white or black shoes...
and theatrical footwear as well as making high quality fashion footwear for men and women. They are perhaps best known as the shoemakers responsible for the Beatle boot.
Company history
Anello & Davide was founded in 1922 by Anello and Davide Gandolfi. They supplied bespoke dance shoes to London theatres and went on to provide shoes for films from the 1930s onwards. From the 1960s onwards the performance footwear that Anello & Davide sold became fashionable street wear. One particularly successful woman's style was the tap-dancerTap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...
's shoe with a bar strap and ribbon bows. These shoes were able to be easily customised by the wearer. It was a mark of recognition for Anello & Davide's footwear when two of their designs were selected to complete two of the first three Dress Of The Year
Dress of The Year
The Dress of the Year is an annual fashion award run by the Fashion Museum, Bath from 1963. Each year since 1963, the Museum has asked a fashion journalist to select a dress or outfit that best represents the most important new ideas in contemporary fashion. For 2010 the Museum broke with tradition...
ensembles. They provided black leather kinky boots
Kinky boots
Kinky boots are boots with extreme characteristics which are intended to present a dramatic sexy appearance, such as by a prostitute or dominatrix. Extreme characteristics might include very high heels, thigh- or crotch-high length, or unusual colors or materials. They can be related to boot...
to accompany a Mary Quant
Mary Quant
Mary Quant OBE FCSD is a British] fashion designer and British fashion icon, who was instrumental in the mod fashion movement. She was one of the designers who took credit for inventing the miniskirt and hot pants. Born in Blackheath, London, to Welsh parents, Quant brought fun and fantasy to...
ensemble in 1963, and a pair of shoes for a John Bates dress in 1965.
Notable clients
Beatle bootsBeatle boots
Beatle boots are a style of boot that have been worn since the 1960s. The boots are tight-fitting, Cuban-heeled, ankle-high boots with a sharp pointed toe, made popular by the English rock group The Beatles, for whom they were originally made. The style can feature either zipped or elastic sides...
originated at Anello & Davide in the early 1960s. When John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
saw Chelsea boots in the shop, they commissioned four pairs with Cuban heel
Cuban heel
Cuban heel may refer to:* Stocking with a heel made with folded over and sewn reinforcement* High-heeled footwear - Men* Heel - MaleSee also:* Beatle boots...
s. This modified version of a Chelsea boot is now known as a Beatles boot..
Anello & Davide footwear is frequently mentioned in passing in theatrical memoirs and biographies of the mid-20th century London scene. The Beatle boots had a particular mystique, with Mark Feld (later Marc Bolan) purchasing his first pair from Anello & Davide after a London-wide search for the perfect footwear to complete his Mod outfit. Barbara Orbison, the widow of the singer Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, remembered how when she met her future husband in 1968, his boots were always made by Anello & Davide.
In addition to the Beatles, Anello & Davide list Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
, Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, Margaret Rutherford
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...
, Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
and David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
as having been amongst their celebrity customers. They have also provided footwear to stage musicals such as Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
and Mamma Mia and to films including the Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
and Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
franchises.
Anello & Davide are occasionally credited as the shoemakers who made the ruby slippers
Ruby slippers
The ruby slippers are the shoes worn by Dorothy in the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz. Because of their iconic stature, they are now among the most treasured and valuable of film memorabilia. As was customary for important props, a number of pairs were made for the film, though no one knows...
worn by Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
as Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
in The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
. This is not the case, as surviving shoes for the 1939 film are clearly labelled as being from the Innes Shoe Company in Los Angeles. On their website, Anello & Davide simply state they have been "called upon to create unforgettable cinema icons - such as Dorothy's unforgettable red slippers The Wizard of Oz.". It is more probable that the firm provided the plain red leather shoes with Louis heels that were customised for the 1985 film Return To Oz
Return to Oz
Return to Oz is a 1985 film which is an unofficial sequel to Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz. The film is based on the second and third Oz books, The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz...
, or at the very least, made replicas for stage productions.
Production
It takes an average of six months to make each pair of custom shoes using a cast of the client's foot. On February 15, 2009, Anello & Davide's warehouse in Park RoyalPark Royal
Park Royal is an area in northwest London, UK. It is the largest industrial and business park in London, occupying about , and is promoted commercially by the Park Royal Partnership...
was seriously damaged by fire, destroying their stock, machinery and their collection of celebrity foot casts. Among the casts lost were those of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
.
In May 2004, Anello & Davide produced their first ready-to-wear shoe collection for men. They offered 25 contemporary/classic designs, including slip-on loafers and scooter boots.
Royal warrants granted
- 1997: Royal Warrant for the Queen Mother
- 2001: Royal Warrant for Her Majesty the Queen.