Last spring in Venice, Italy, Golden Goose ushered in a new era of creativity at the Biennale Arte 2024 with the experiential HAUS of Dreamers affair. The visionary brand’s opening of HAUS—a sweeping new space that blends culture, craft, and community by way of a rich archive, exhibition realm, comprehensive library, forward-thinking academy, and more—united a parade of cutting-edge artists for luminous creative performances in the majestic city.
Argentinian visual artist Andrés Reisinger, Italian sculptor Fabio Viale, French-Italian painter Maïa Régis, and Puerto Rican singer Mia Lailani immersed the international glitterati—including Mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro, model Romme Strijd, pianist Alberto Bof, art director Antonio Monfreda, skater Rune Glifberg, and many more—in a decadent evening of spellbinding music and artmaking. A singular opportunity unfolded for guests to personalize their own Marathon sneakers beside artisans warmly known as the Golden Goose Dream Makers. Later, a mythical dinner brimming with floral artistry and a sensorial candle-lit atmosphere sparked a vibrant HAUS week of live performances, exclusive workshops, and insightful conversations on the dynamism of contemporary culture and the possibilities for further enriching the historic city of Venice. In Venice, Whitewall had the opportunity to speak to Silvio Campara, the eminent CEO of Golden Goose, to speak about building a humble and powerful platform to unleash creativity—for everyone, from everyone.
Romee Stridjd and Silvio Campara; courtesy of Golden Goose.
WHITEWALL: Can you describe the great significance of Golden Goose’s HAUS in Venice?
SILVIO CAMPARA: For centuries, everyone has talked about luxury as the equation connecting exclusivity to scarcity. I think what is entering through this new era of luxury is scarcity giving space to uniqueness. Exclusivity is giving space to inclusivity, and expensiveness is giving space to sentiments.
Today, people not only want to look good, they want to feel good. Feeling good is not just about being comfortable, it’s about feeling good on the inside. In this era, the new generation is told to perform all the time due to new technologies—saying you have to be this or that. The new scarcity to me is in emotions, the real state of who you are inside.
Today, people are curious to discover their own point of view. The scarcity is sentiments, the new scarcity is to feel curious. I think, and I hope, this place is a good example of not putting the brand in a position to tell you something, but just as a very humble and powerful platform to unleash creativity, and I think creativity will save the world.
Courtesy of Golden Goose.
“I think creativity will save the world,”
— Silvio Campara
Golden Goose Embraces AI in Venice
Artificial intelligence can create a context. There is something interesting about AI and the future. Our artist Andrés placed this beautiful installation that was born from AI. But what I found interesting is that there is no better understanding of the future than staying connected to the past. I think AI will be interesting because it will always be serving the curiosity of the people by understanding the past. That is why I think it is fascinating, but it is also why I think this is so powerful, because the future is made of emotions—not off tech. The new scarcity is not a product, it’s not a price, it will be about emotions. That is why brands today have this huge power, not imposing a message, but by listing values.
Maïa Régis; Courtesy of Golden Goose.
“AI will be interesting because it will always be serving the curiosity of the people by understanding the past,”
Silvio Campara
Golden Goose Collaborates with Artists in Venice
WW: Can you tell us about the collaboration of artists? I was so moved by every room. It was a different experience, and also I loved the fact that it was very intimate.
SC: Our priority is to make sure everyone has their own white canvas within every experience, so you can craft your own point of view. It’s not just about crafting products, the new craft is something that we can make every single day in our own individuality.
That’s why, I think, that by collaborating with these artists, we can explain to people that the future craft is not something that you can read in a book, it is not something that you can watch on YouTube, it’s something that you can do. It’s a very simple recipe, connecting your brain, your heart, and your instincts with your hands. We are what we do.
Courtesy of Golden Goose.
“The new craft is something that we can make every single day in our own individuality,”
Silvio Campara
I’ll give you a very simple example. I was reading a book back in the day about Agassi, the tennis player. I was very fascinated and felt so connected to him—I was six years old. My dad would put rackets in my hands, telling me to play, and after some years I was a tennis player. But no one taught me to be that, I simply did it.
It’s the same in craft-making, you don’t have to be Picasso. That’s a powerful thing that we are trying to unleash through our artists. They were a perfect blend of those very established, like Andrés or Fabio Biale, and then Mia and Maïa were completely unknown and now we love them.
What happened tonight is nothing compared to what will happen in the next two days. Golden Goose is reinventing Venice from being a place to celebrate creativity to a place that generates creativity. From the island to the ground to the mainland, in a place that was utilized to just craft products, now we can craft ideas. I love that. Ideas for everyone, from everyone. This is the original idea of the Italian Renaissance.
Courtesy of Golden Goose.
