Golden Goose presents Haus of Dreamers' collaboration with Fabio Novembre

Hands, water, and craftsmanship. Fabio Novembre and Golden Goose's collection came to life based on these three elements, inspired by Venice's Grand Canal and the footwear brand's history. Along with the architect and designer, Golden Goose's Venetian HAUS of Dreamers event featured four other world-renowned creative minds, Native American Land Protector and model Quannah Chasinghorse, tattoo artist Dr. Woo, actress and singer, star of the series Daisy Jones and The Six, Suki Waterhouse, and k-pop star SUNMI. Each of them was asked to reinterpret a Venetian icon, to tell their own story with the aim of inspiring new generations, and to try their hand at creating a limited collection by letting themselves be guided by their dreams, as indeed the title of the project intends. We met Fabio Novembre in Milan, at the presentation of the HAUS of Dreamers collection in the 10 Corso Como store, where a stack of black velvet sneakers that read the phrase «We are made of water, and so is the world» prompted us to reflect, along with the architect, on the empirical meaning of water and how it makes us alive.

From the catchphrase decorating the soles of the sneakers to the striped t-shirts taken from the traditional outfit of Venetian gondoliers that mimic the mark that might remain on the edges if they were dipped in the Grand Canal, water is the common thread running through this collaboration, an element that, according to Novembre, offers metaphors related to the city of Venice, human excitement, modern philosophy and the origin of life. «Venice is an absolutely magical place plucked from the water,» explained the architect. «In this case, I tried to listen to the beat of this body we call Venice and give it a form, matter. It was a fluid, aquatic game.»

Over the years, Novembre's architecture and design studio has created original and innovative projects in collaboration with some of the world's most famous Italian brands. His work requires great imagination, but despite this Novembre does not consider himself a dreamer. «The word dreamer is abused a bit,» said Novembre. «I am a daydreamer, I dream during the day and realize dreams, that's my job, I don't dream at night. By the way, I don't remember dreams. We try to make dreams real, that's what being a designer is all about.» HAUS of Dreamers celebrates dreams but does so by exploring more than just concrete concepts, and November's collaboration confirms this. Just as Golden Goose's artistic heritage is based on the greatness of Italian craftsmanship, the project launched amongst Venetian walls and canals this spring combines tradition and modernity by safeguarding ancient arts, an asset that Novembre believes to be invaluable in Italy. «I believe that there are two types of intelligence: there are scientists who use their brains, but there is also an intelligence of the hands, which is that of craftsmen, of ordinary people, which is so stratified, so historical and so deep in the Italian territory, which is what we should really be proud of,» the architect explains. «We hand down gestures and manual knowledge like no one else in the world, so we have to defend it. We live in a stratified place of historical beauty, and this intelligence of the hands comes exactly from that, it is in our genetic code and we have to tie it to our idea of the future.»