French footwear brand Free Lance appoints Alfredo Piferi as creative director

By

Sarah Ahssen

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Feb 16, 2021

Italian designer Alfredo Piferi has recently been appointed creative director of French premium footwear brand Free Lance. Free Lance was founded in 1980 and is owned by the Rautureau Apple Shoes group, whose brands include among others Armistice, Schmoove and No Name, and which is in turn owned by Xavier Marie via the Compagnie Marco Polo holding company.

Piferi is based in London, and started his career by joining Valentino after his studies in Rome, subsequently working as assistant men’s and women’s footwear designer at Versace. He then did stints at Karl Lagerfeld, Casadei, Kanye West and Burberry, where he was the Prorsum line’s senior designer.

In the last five years, he worked at Jimmy Choo, as creative director of the women’s range for the luxury footwear label.

“Thanks to his instinct for innovation, Alfredo has immediately embraced the energy and boldness of our label,” said in a press release Camilla Schiavone, CEO of the Rautureau group.

Piferi’s appointment is instrumental to the make-over Free Lance is undergoing, touching on the style of the brand’s collections, its store design, corporate identity and brand image.