Rupert Sanderson

Who is Rupert Sanderson?

Rupert Sanderson is a shoe designer. He was born in 1966 in Penang, Malaysia. The son of a British Army officer, Rupert Sanderson lived the typically peripatetic life of an army child. After graduating from Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, London University, he worked in advertising in London before enrolling on the shoe making course at the world-recognised Cordwainers College in East London, joining a long lineage of stellar shoemakers such as Jimmy Choo. During the summer holiday of the two-year course, he rode a motorbike to Italy to visit shoe factories, tanneries and last makers, meeting artisans and learning as much as possible about the trade. Rupert Sanderson then worked in Italy firstly for Sergio Rossi, and latterly Bruno Magli. Working with the founders and the families of both these companies before they were bought by luxury goods conglomerates has put Sanderson in good stead with the close-knit Italian shoe making community. Rupert Sanderson produced his first shoe collection in 2001. By way of reinforcing his design principles, in 2006 Rupert Sanderson bought a controlling interest in the shoe factory in the outskirts of Bologna, Italy, that he had been working with from his first collection. The art of traditional craftsmanship and attention to detail can be seen in every Rupert Sanderson shoe.