Pantofola d’Oro and SANGI Unite to Celebrate 140 Years with Superleggera 2.0

Celebrating its 140th anniversary, the historic Italian brand Pantofola d’Oro announces a special collaboration with SANGI. This project draws inspiration from the archives to honor the brand’s artisanal heritage through research, experimentation, and an approach that bridges science and art. The collaboration reflects a shared commitment to the value of Made in Italy at every stage of product development, working alongside the finest Italian manufacturers who blend traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge industrial technology.

United by a common vision to tell Pantofola d’Oro’s story through a contemporary lens, SANGI applies its methodology to football, transforming a technical icon into a design for everyday life. It is a meeting of memory and the future, where football tradition embraces new languages and intersects with fashion. The result is a lifestyle reinterpretation of the Superleggera 2.0: a shoe that retains the aesthetic elements of football while evolving for everyday wear, bringing the emotions of the pitch to the streets. 

The transparent sole captures and preserves the moment when the studs touch the grass, allowing the wearer to feel “on the pitch” with every step. 

This collaboration between SANGI’s forward-looking vision and Pantofola d’Oro’s heritage has produced an iconic product, narrating a historic moment where sport, style, and identity converge. 

Pantofola d’Oro, a historic Made in Italy luxury footwear maison, celebrates 140 years of excellence with the re-edition of a legend: the Superleggera Classic. The name “Pantofola d’Oro” was coined by John Charles, the Welsh top scorer for Juventus, who, upon putting on the shoes, exclaimed: “They’re more comfortable than my slippers!” 

It all began with Emidio Lazzarini. The son of shoemakers from Ascoli Piceno, before taking over the family business he had been an athlete and had traveled the world. Since his wrestling shoes had studs and very hard leathers, he began using the softest materials available, with immediate success. The best Italian footballers went to him to have their shoes made to measure.

But Pantofola d’Oro is not only football. Lazzarini transferred the same care and artisanal skill to other sports: rugby, then tennis, basketball, golf, and cycling. When sport increasingly became a business and Lazzarini’s craftsmanship suffered, it was up to Kim Williams and Massimo Ubaldi to bet on the brand and revive it with two football shoe models, one from 1950 and the other from 1956, adapted for leisurewear. The interest was unexpected. Suddenly those shoes appeared in the windows of the most beautiful shops in the world. Tradition became trend. 

The legendary Superleggera evolved into the Superleggera 2.0 (weighing just 175 grams) and projects football into a new era, where quality and speed merge. Lighter and more comfortable than this is impossible. Dedicated to footballers (and not only). 

SANGI is the world’s first Footwear Observatory, based in Milan and founded by designer Pietro Franceschi. Starting from the constant exploration of the footwear universe and curating an ever-expanding digital archive, the studio operates as a technological hub where research is at the center of every project. 

The SANGI Observatory works with a dual objective: to spread footwear culture and to create cutting-edge products by experimenting with innovative solutions in the fields of style, material development, and manufacturing processes. Working as a research and development center with the most prestigious suppliers and grounded in the artisanal and production values of the Made in Italy supply chain, SANGI oversees the entire process of design, development, and communication of a new product.