Villa Foscarini, Negrelli, Rossi is a Venetian villa located in Stra in the province of Venice, along the Brenta Riviera. It is home to the Rossimoda museum of footwear.
The Shoe Museum was opened in 1995. It was founded by Luigino Rossi, a footwear entrepreneur. He bought the Foscarini estate, with its historical seventeenth century residence by the Brenta River, to house his company’s museum. The Museum displays over 1500 examples of luxury women’s shoes, dating from 1947 to the present day. The models were designed and produced by Rossimoda for the most prestigious international designers. A precious collection of nineteenth century Venetian footwear is also on show. The exhibition traces the progress of the company over the years, testifying to the local skills and knowledge of the Riviera del Brenta shoemaking district.
It also highlights the evolution of fashion in the second half of the nineteenth century, through that one accessory, the shoe.
Buliding
The exhibition itinerary was organized with the aim of enhancing the contribution of the individual fashion houses, with an eye to the stylistic evolution of the “brand” over time, where the years of collaboration with Rossimoda make it possible.
Exteriors
The seventeenth-century architectural complex of Villa Foscarini Rossi is located in Stra, between Padua and Venice, along the banks of the Brenta river. The Villa Padronale houses the Footwear Museum of Villa Foscarini Rossi, while the Foresteria, with its elegant Hall of Frescoes, is used as a conference center.
Interiors
The Museum collects over 1500 models of women’s shoes, produced by the company from 1947 to the present day, the result of its collaborations with the most prestigious stylists on the international scene. There is also a small but precious collection of Venetian footwear from the 1700s and 1800s.
Frescoes
In the main villa you can admire the Egyptian and Gothic rooms, decorated during the 19th century alterations. The Foresteria plant remains original from the 1600s, with the frescoes in the elegant Party Room by Pietro Liberi, as regards the allegories and by Domenico De Bruni from Brescia for the skilful perspective decorations.
History
Villa Foscarini Rossi was built between 1617 and 1635 on a probable project by Francesco Contini.
It was home, a century later, of Marco Foscarini, one of the last Doge of the Serenissima Republic of Venice; and subsequently of the Negrelli and Rossi families, from which it takes its name.
Villa Foscarini Rossi Shoe Museum timeline
1602
The Venetian nobleman, Jacopo Foscarini, completed the renovation of a country house on the banks of the River Brenta, in order to spend a peaceful old age, after distinguishing himself at the Battle of Corfu (1572).
1652
Foscarini family completed the decoration of the guest house, entrusting it with prestigious artists such as the Brescian Domenico de’ Bruni and the Paduan Pietro Liberi.
1947
Narciso Rossi starts producing his own shoes
1956
Luigino Rossi, son of Narciso supports his father in the activity with the two brothers
1963
Rossimoda obtains the first license agreement with a fashion house
1990
Luigino Rossi buys the architectural complex of Villa Foscarini
1995
The Shoe Museum opened to the public.
Museum
On June 24, 1995, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Rossimoda Spa company, on the initiative of Luigino Rossi, the structure became the Rossimoda museum of footwear. The exhibition collects some prototypes of footwear produced by the Rossimoda Spa company, and other samples given by the different brands, or collected by Luigino Rossi.
The route, structured on the different floors of the seventeenth-century building, guides the visitor through different rooms of the building set up in such a way as to show an excursus of the footwear production of the various fashion houses for which the company has created the products, including Dior, Christian Lacroix, Pucci, Fendi, Yves Saint Laurent, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Kenzo.
The Rossimoda museum of footwear is located in the main villa of the seventeenth-century architectural complex Villa Foscarini Rossi in Stra along the Riviera del Brenta in the province of Venice. The museum deals with footwear and costume history and collects a collection of over 1700 models of luxury women’s shoes, produced by the shoe factory of the same name in collaboration with high fashion houses.
The museum is one of the few Italian museums dedicated to footwear. It is reviewed in the repertoires of corporate museums and considered relevant in its specificity.
Collection
More than 1500 examples of luxury women’s shoes, all manufactured by Rossimoda footwear factory, are dispayed at Villa Foscarini Rossi Shoe Museum. The Museum is located in Stra (Venice), within a magnificent seventeenth century Veneto Villa by the Brenta River. The exhibition traces the progress of the company over the years, testifying the local skills and knowledge of the Riviera del Brenta shoemaking district.
Prototypes of the company’s collaborations with international fashion houses, from Dior to Yves Saint Laurent, from Givenchy to Ungaro, to Fendi, Christian Lacroix, Pucci, Calvin Klein, Porsche and others. Pieces representative of the company’s history, the historical period and the social context or because they are remarkable from a technical and artisan point of view are exhibited.
The minimalism of American designers such as Donna Karan, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Porsche is represented on the ground floor, while the products of Mediterranean designers such as Emilio Pucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Dior, Roger Vivier, Fendi, Lacroix are visible on the upper floor., Céline and Kenzo, having more space given the longevity of their collaborations with the company.
To the footwear models are added prints, sketches and sculptures from the private art collection of Luigino Rossi: the original sketches by Christian Lacroix and Karl Lagerfeld, the reproductions of the prints by Andy Warhol, and the cartes de vœux by Yves Saint Laurent.