“I was a loser DJ,” Zanotti tells Tatler as we sit down to chat in the Presidential Suite at Fullerton Bay Hotel in Singapore. He’s sat in a lounge chair, wearing his signature black, thick-framed glasses.
Before becoming one of the world’s most celebrated shoe designers, Zanotti started his career as a DJ for an independent radio station in his hometown in Italy, essentially working for free because he would “spend all [his] money buying records”.
Zanotti grew up in San Mauro Pascoli, a coastal town one hour south of Bologna that’s known for shoe manufacturing. “It’s a beautiful summer place,” he says. His family owned a quaint restaurant and gelateria on the beach, where he would work during the peak season. “My father and mother had already written my…
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Tatler Hong Kong (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2023