Sextantio – Salvaging from History to Offer a New Design Experience.

Time, fashion and progress have a tendency to relegate old designs to make room for new ones.

Some designs manage to survive and continue selling over the years to become icons, while most are forgotten. But this does not mean that all designs which are forgotten are bad, or outdated.

There are about 15,000 Italian towns and villages in near total abandonment, they’re mostly small medieval settlements that have existed for over 1000 years. But because unemployment has forced their inhabitants away to the cities and further afield to other countries in search for work, with virtually no local economy these architectural and cultural heritage treasures have been left to crumble and decay.

Until recently when Sextantio Hotels an Italo-Swedish project purchased Santo Stefano di Sessanio, a small abandoned medieval town in the Apennine mountains of central Italy. A social entrepreneurial business venture, Sextantio Hotels aims to protect the historical heritage of central Italy and has already purchased a further 9 abandoned Italian villages.

With a mission to preserve endangered architecture, heritage and help rebuild the local economy, Sextantio Hotels has carefully developed an exclusive hotel with rooms discretely scattered throughout the town to help finance the restoration of the original medieval architecture of Santo Stefano di Sessanio.  Effectively transforming the town from a crumbling ruin to a precious product and experience.

Creating a new kind of luxury rooted in rare authenticity and historical experience.

What abandoned and forgotten footwear designs are there? What footwear brands once rich in heritage and culture can be revived? And can the brand be built and developed to benefit more parties besides company employees and customers, for example can a brand also be created to benefit a local economy?

For more information visit Sextantio