While on the street Buenos Aires says goodbye to December in its most chaotic version – heavy traffic, heat, rushed agendas, phones that do not stop vibrating -, behind closed doors of the Sylvie Geronimi The calendar seems to change. The conversation passes with a comforting calm: Sylvie speaks slowly, smiles, listens. There is something in his tone, in the way he chooses words, that disarms the background noise. Throughout the interview, without emphasis or slogans, an idea returns that runs through his way of working and looking at the world: the importance of what is handmade, of time, of the knowledge that is transmitted from generation to generation.
French, daughter of a diplomat of that origin and an Argentine mother, raised in Asia and trained in Paris between theater, painting, acting and haute couture, Geronimi arrived in Buenos Aires almost by chance and stayed out of conviction. He was 25 years old and working at Balenciaga when he decided to take a vacation; first Brazil, then Buenos Aires. “It was summer in France and the middle of July here. They invited me to exhibitions, to galleries, I met artists,” he remembers. In those days, someone told him about a French brand that he had always admired, Marithé + François Girbaud, a pioneer in taking jeans to another place and a rage in Japan in the 80s. They had sold a local license and needed shoes for a show. “I said I could design them, without knowing that I also had to manufacture them,” he says. That happy mistake was, in reality, a revelation: discovering that in Argentina the craft was still alive, that artisanal work was possible and that luxury could be built from the atelier. “I didn’t want to be a multinational. I wanted to be in a workshop,” he says. Eighteen years later, that choice continues to mark every step of his path.
News: What is the woman who uses Sylvie Geronimi like?
Sylvie Geronimi: Although each woman is different, the common point is that they are in search of improving themselves, transforming themselves, moving forward, with passions. From the artist to the super mega businesswoman, but in between there are surgeons, actresses, singers.
News: How much do you care about fashion? It seems that what he does is timeless.
Geronimi: My inspiration is more linked to art, literature. What always interested and inspired me. But I never stop paying attention to fashion, because even in that universe there are people who create from art, and to whom the industry often ends up paying attention.
News: Do you think Argentinian women are elegant?
Geronimi: It depends on what it means to be elegant. I think that French elegance, for example, has to do with each person having their own style. French women don’t like to follow fashion. It seems to me that Argentinian women have that thing of curiosity, which makes them end up incorporating styles. I see similarity between Argentine and French culture. I always say that, although in Argentina there are more Italian or Spanish descendants, your humor has a lot to do with French humor.
News: Would you say that your creations are 100% French style or have you already become Argentinian?
Geronimi: Actually, in France they see my Latin style and in Argentina they see me French style. My father was a diplomat and I traveled a lot as a child, I think that made me end up having a mix of styles, something very much mine. It is more a unity of what nourished me.
News: What was it like when you decided to stay in Argentina? What was the factor that tipped the balance?
Geronimi: When he liked the design he had presented for the Marithé + François Girbaud show, he had only been in the country for 15 days. I wasn’t determined to stay yet. But I met an Argentinian who offered to take me to shoe workshops, and he took me to one that made shoes for the police. I couldn’t believe that this profession still existed… I fell in love with it. I think that at that moment I had a vision, because I set up my own workshop, I worked a lot with the trade, I trained myself and I trained people. And I feel like I was always behind telling Argentines to pay attention to what they had, because it was gold dust. That is a link in the chain that was lost in Europe and today they are trying to recover, because they understood that to talk about real luxury you have to talk about craft. At the same time, when I started working I won two awards. French education is very self-demanding, it is something that is in training. And I had a little doubt that, although I was doing well, I wondered how I would do if I were in France. Winning those awards freed me and made me decide to stay.
News: You started designing for others, when did you become independent?
Geronimi: First I designed for Ona Sáez, María Vázquez, Martín Churba, Fabián Zitta, Lonté, also for brands that no longer exist, such as Anonimato or Rosita Lazo. And in 2008 I thought: “If I want to stay serious, I have to do something of my own.” And a French friend told me: “I’ll help you with something, think about what you need to move forward.” I told him that I wanted to open a store in Recoleta, which was where you had to be at that time. That allowed me to gather my clientele, between those who knew me and tourists.
News: When did you incorporate the atelier?
Geronimi: It was something I had always thought about, because having a real craft product, clients want to see what the kitchen is like. In this new location in Palermo we achieved that, although at first this house was just a workshop. The first client who came in, very emblematic of us, saw the renovation, with the stained glass, the leather in the background, and said “this is Sylvie.” Here I feel that I can transmit all the work.
News: It is said that after the pandemic women stopped wearing heels, is that so?
Geronimi: Before, the shoe was for walking, for running, for playing sports. Today there is the sneaker for everyday wear or the most comfortable shoe. Before it was frowned upon. My clientele has their model of shoe to go out and walk a lot, but they tell me that they use it to take care of their feet for heels. They don’t go to dinner or the theater in sneakers. Those who want to dress well need heels to show off, for events, for parties. And although I have made designer sneakers, our shoe is comfortable, we worked on the structure to achieve that. We look for tricks so that you can have the luxury of wearing the stiletto without it hurting.
News: How many models do you produce per year?
Geronimi: We have about 90 party models, because maybe we have one in three heel heights. We even do half a point. There is a lot of production, we work a lot to order and we also have unique models.
News: What would you say are the hallmarks of your style?
Geronimi: The Arletty model, after a French actress from the 1920s, which I later released with a fish-mouth version. Also the ballerina with a heel, in a low and higher version. It has many versions of colors, fabrics, patent leather, and leather. It’s a classic of ours. And the other iconic model is called Sandrine, it has acrylic and many come with fabrics that I buy in France. I buy them at fabric author places and they are unique creations, no pair is the same, not even one foot is the same!
News: What happened to the opening of imports? Did it help you because you get more inputs or did the competition complicate it?
Geronimi: It’s not something that directly affects me. My clientele is a woman who travels a lot, they buy what they want abroad, but they usually tell me that they buy everything except shoes. Those who fall in love with our style and comfort stay. But we are a niche, I can’t put myself to scale. In fact, I feel that the more possibilities a person has to know the outside, the more they value what is ours. Because there is a craft, because it is a handmade shoe, because we take care of authenticity, it is our own design. Obviously, it is a small market, because it is a luxury product, but not from the label, but from revaluing what is not mass-produced.
News: You launched the cycle “Women in Their Shoes”, a series that brings together protagonists with unique views on art, identity and footwear as a tool of expression and empowerment. How was it born?
Geronimi: Many years ago, I saw a woman on the street with an incredible presence. I looked at her shoes, I loved them… and it took me a few seconds to realize that they were “mine.” She had incorporated them so naturally into her style, her way of walking, her identity, that she had made them completely her own. That day I understood something that I have never forgotten: the design ends with the woman who interprets it. Returning to this project in 2025 was almost a necessity. It felt like a way to remember why I do what I do and who I do it for. Each woman who participates shows me a different world, and in each of them I also see our clients, who for so many years have allowed me to be part of their stories. There is something in the relationship between the designer and the wearer that makes that meeting unique. This project is that: a bridge between my job and the life of each woman who interprets a design in her own way.
News: What do you ask for in 2026?
Geronimi: I ask that we can continue with the revaluation of the profession, that we can open windows to the outside so that we can see the difference with what we generate, to realize that in Argentina we have a lot to do and we have unique things. I keep choosing this country and I want to value all the good things it has and show it to the world.
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