MILAN — Tod’s has partnered with Tim Walker on a recent project called “The Art of Craftsmanship” to be unveiled Wednesday during Milan Design Week. 

“Italian lifestyle and exceptional craftsmanship are core values for Tod’s and having them interpreted by Tim Walker allows us to convey these values also to the young generations, speaking their language,” said Diego Della Valle, chairman and chief executive officer of Tod’s Group.

Della Valle has long voiced his belief in Italian craftsmanship, a founding value for Tod’s.

The partnership resulted in images and videos that emphasize the phases of the creation of the brand’s signature products, from the Di Bag to the Gommino — the brand’s storied pebble motif — with a touch of irony and in a surreal way.

Walker played with the proportions of the objects and the tools utilized by the artisans to chop the leather, stitch and brush it, shining the sunshine on the hands and the talents of the individuals who create the  products.

“On this increasingly digital world, where a lot is being created on an industrial scale by machines and robots, the worth of workmanship is increasingly precious,” said the British photographer. “Detecting the hand of a talented craftsperson in a product gives it a singular quality and really particular beauty.”

Walker said spending a day on the Tod’s factory along with his set designer Gary Card, they each were inspired by the craftsmanship that goes into the products, while adding a touch of the unexpected. “We desired to let the specialist tools and methods play a starring role in the pictures — the artisan tools are so specific to the creation of Tod’s iconic products — we wanted to search out a strategy to have fun them in a rather surreal way in the pictures, playing with perspective, and hopefully some with some wit.”

Walker is thought for his extravagant, artistic images that always encompass elements of the natural world. In 2010 Walker’s first short film, “The Lost Explorer,” premiered at Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland and went on to win best short film on the Chicago United Film Festival in 2011.

In 2012, Walker’s “Storyteller” photographic exhibition opened at Somerset House, London. In a 2013 collaboration with Lawrence Mynott and Kit Hesketh-Harvey, he also released “The Granny Alphabet,” a group of portraiture and illustration celebrating grandmothers.

In 2012 he received an honorary fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society, and the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery in London each have Walker’s photographs of their everlasting collections. Walker shot the 2018 Pirelli Calendar.

Last yr, the Tod’s brand recorded growth in all geographical areas, each in shoes and in the brand new families of leather goods and accessories, reporting a 19.1 percent increase in revenues to 510 million euros.

In March, commenting on the Tod’s Group 2022 financial results, Della Valle said it “is equally necessary to guard each our supply chain, which guarantees us the perfect possible quality, much appreciated by our consumers everywhere in the world and which reinforces the desirability of our Italian lifestyle products. Great emphasis can be given to the world of sustainability, solidarity and welfare, wherein our group has been energetic for a few years.”