There is something about August in Italy that asks you to slow down! Maybe it’s the heat, the long beach days that stretch into dinner, or coming home with salty hair and taking turns in the outdoor shower under the trees. The shops close, the cities empty, and the urgency to do a million things at once seems to disappear. Ferragosto sits right in the middle of it all, an almost mandatory Italian pause with roots going all the way back to Ancient Rome.

For our founder, Sofia, August has always been one of the few times of year reserved for the people she loves, places that feel like home, and a little less time looking at a screen. This summer, that felt more special than ever.

“I think one of the greatest luxuries right now is simply being somewhere beautiful and not immediately sharing it; there is something so special about letting a memory just be yours for a little! To experience something, love it, and let the memory belong to you first.”

The August Reset

“This summer felt different from the others. I spent much of it returning to places that feel like refuges to me, especially the same house on the southern coast of Sardinia that I have been coming back to for years.

August is usually when I give myself permission to disconnect a little, but this year I realized how much I actually need it. There is so much pressure to always be reachable, to know what everyone else is doing, to respond, to post, to keep up. Stepping away makes the world feel much bigger again. You look up from your phone, pay attention to what is around you, and somehow the things that felt enormous a few days ago start to feel a little smaller.

I also think I am most creative when I give myself room to be curious. I notice a color combination, a texture, what someone is wearing, or something completely random that catches my eye. I don't always know why I love it or what I am going to do with it. Usually, months later, it finds its way into Viani somehow.”

Sardinia

Sardinia has landed on so many summer lists this year, and we can completely understand why! Sofia stayed close to the part of the island she knows best: the southern coast near Cagliari.

“One thing I love about summer here is how easy it is for me to settle into doing very little. Sitting under the pine trees, listening to everything around me, feeling the sun on my face, walking around with salty hair. I think I can adapt pretty easily wherever I am, but there is something about being here that makes me really appreciate the simplest things.

Chia will probably always be my favorite beach. Tuerredda is incredibly beautiful, and Cala Zafferano is one of those places that still feels slightly unreal, almost like a swimming pool. You can only reach it by sea.

And then there are the fish at Baia dei Pesci. Ever since I started coming to Sardinia, I have loved swimming alongside the little schools of occhiate there. Every summer I look forward to going back and seeing them again. I could actually watch them forever!

And then, obviously, the food!! Sardinian red shrimp, fresh red tuna, bottarga on everything, and caffè zero! I am also an Italian-breakfast obsessive, so one of my favorite rituals is going into Pula in the morning for a pistachio cornetto and cappuccino, or a delizia and an espresso.

Some of my favorite moments this summer actually happened after the sun went down. One night in Capo Malfatano, I looked up and could not believe how many stars I could see. I saw so many shooting stars! My jaw actually dropped at the first one, and then there was another, and another.

I tried taking pictures, but they looked like absolutely nothing compared to what I was seeing in real life. Maybe that is part of the beauty of nature. Some things just aren't meant to translate perfectly through a screen. You have to be there, and then you get to keep the memory.”

What I Packed

Despite traveling with a decidedly not small suitcase this time, the shoe edit was surprisingly concise.

“My Sardinia uniform became very simple: a swimsuit, an oversized shirt or little summer dress, salty hair and Vianis. The same pair I wore to breakfast in Pula somehow ended up at dinner that night.

I only brought a few pairs of shoes and I wore every single one, including one pair you might not recognize just yet. They went from mornings in town to lunches by the sea, dinners, walking around and everything in between. I even had strangers stop me to compliment them, which always makes my day!

I design Vianis thinking about real life and movement. I want them to be the shoes you throw into a suitcase without having to plan every outfit around them. Living in them on repeat for a few weeks is always my favorite test.”

Ferragosto, Somewhere Else

This year's Ferragosto looked a little different. Sofia found herself back in Miami for the August 15 wedding of one of her childhood best friends.

“There was a terrace at sunset, the happiest bride, and these incredible flowers in lilac, purple, yellow, orange and green. Nothing felt overly traditional, and the colors together were so unexpected and beautiful. We danced so much (and my Vianis came along)!”

Miami quickly became a work week, too, with one particularly special Viani moment: finally delivering a custom pair of shoes that had been in the making for months.

“There is something so emotional about making something for someone's wedding. Knowing that this particular pair will become part of someone's memories makes the work feel completely different. We cannot wait to be a tiny part of her story.”

The Joy of August

The final days of the month brought Sofia to Paris, with samples arriving, work finding its rhythm again, and movies at night.

“I think August reminds me that inspiration doesn't always come from searching for it.

Sometimes it's a color combination you weren't looking for. Flowers at a wedding. Fish swimming beneath you. A breakfast you've had a hundred times. The sun on your face. A shooting star you couldn't photograph.

There are places in the world that immediately switch something on in my brain. Lima does it. Milano does it. Florence does it. I arrive and suddenly think, Okay. I know what I want to make.

August gives me something different. It gives me the space to not know yet. To disconnect, look around, spend time with the people I love, and let ideas come to me instead of constantly looking for them.

And for someone who loves creating as much as I do, I think that might be one of its greatest luxuries.”

For the last few days of August, the plan is simple: a little less screen time, enjoying the last of the summer, and getting very excited for everything that is still to come.

Some things can simply be enjoyed. And some can be carried with you. The colors of our August, gathered into a little edit here.

Happy August to all!