Fiat and Sabelt are to make shoes together. From Formula 1 Grand Prix circuits to busy city streets, the historic link between Fiat Auto and Sabelt has been renewed, marked by performance, technology and genuine Italian style.

The Fiat shoes by Sabelt, with both men’s and ladies models, one in white leather and the other in beige suede and white leather, were conceived, developed and manufactured in Italy.

The brainchild of Lapo Elkann, the Fiat Auto Brand Promotion manager, and Gregorio Marsiaj, director of the Sabelt fashion department, they are the result of a partnership between the two Turin companies stretching back to the Seventies, on the highly successful Lancia Stratos of Sandro Munari, fitted out by Sabelt, and continuing today in the FIA World Touring Car Championship with the Alfa Romeo Racing Team, and on the Formula One Ferraris raced by Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.

Available in the most exclusive Italian boutiques and at the Sabelt shop in Corso Venezia in Milan, the Fiat shoes by Sabelt offer fans of the two brands, among others, the style and quality that have contributed to success in international motoring competitions. A demanding and exciting project, demonstrating yet again the attention that and Sabelt dedicate to quality, safety and, above all, Italy.

SABELT: MOTORSPORT

Sabelt was founded in 1972, the initiative of Piero and Giorgio Marsiaj. Starting as license holder for Britax (a British company in the sector) it became, in a short space of time, the largest seat belt manufacturer in Italy.  

Sabelt was the first company to design the inertia reel locking mechanism. It was also around this time that the company developed the first 6-point harnesses with quick-release buckles specifically for motor racing. The first cars to use these Sabelt belts were Sandro Munari's glorious Lancia Stratos, in rallying, and Bruno Giacomelli's Alfa Romeo, in F1.

In this way, by closely following the most important drivers in the world and making use of their valuable input during product development, the Sabelt "racing" belts came to be acknowledged as the undisputed leader in the sector. Today Sabelt researches, develops and manufactures racing car seat belts at the forefront of technology, supplying the main racing car teams worldwide.

As a result of its experience acquired in the area of racing safety, from October 1998 Sabelt began to extend its activity by distributing a whole range of accessories, all approved according to FIA standards: seats, suits, gloves, special technical clothing for drivers and mechanics, shoes, steering wheels, helmets, pedals, strut bars and springs.
 

Scuderia Ferrari pilots, Eddie Irvine in 1999, and Rubens Barrichello from 2000 to 2002 and 2003 were the Formula One drivers' selected by Sabelt to endorse these high-quality products.

SABELT: FASHION FOOTWEAR

Since 1990 Sabelt has been supplier of the Ferrari Team, a combination that lays at the basis of many a success. This experience has resulted in the creation of the fashion line in which the competition prototypes worn by Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello in the Formula One Grand Prix, have been transformed into 'de ville' and 'weekend' models. Reserved up to this day exclusively to the pilots and known only to those who had frequented with enthusiasm the world of car racing, the 'Sabelt' have become in a short time a real 'cult object'. Indeed, they can satisfy both the desire for luxury and for modernity, thanks to the combination of highly technological materials of great quality (carbon fibre inserts, the use of the same safety belt of the pilots on a few models and uppers made of fine leathers) and the aesthetic element that stems from the tradition of the 'Made in Italy' (hand-made in specialized workshops in the Marche region).

The footwear project is developed around important studies of technology and comfort. To decline them it is a shovel of intense, penetrating and luminous colors. To characterize them: upper idro and oleo repellent in shammy leather, linings colored in nomex - a synthetic and fireproof material also used for the NASA spacesuits, rubber sole that remember the outrider of the racer cars, antislide and antioil with internal sole in latex. Upon these bases Sabelt has also started the collaboration with Emilio Pucci (satellite trademark of the Group LVMH), which has resulted in the creation of the co-branded Sabelt-Emilio Pucci on a line of shoes of limited production made of light models that have a tapering and feminine form. Every 'Sabelt' is offered in different materials associated with a vast range of colors, which can be coupled with different soles, thus offering a wide possibility of creating combinations and custom-made products.

Sabelt shoes can be bought in the most exclusive worldwide shops such as "Russo" in Capri, "San Carlo" in Italy, "Marinotti" in Cortina, "Brugnoli" and "Rivoli" in Rome, "Al Duca d'Aosta" in Padova and Venice, "La Casa dello Sport" in Bologna, "Broad Side" in Genova, "Vergelio" and "Visconti" in Milan as well as in the company's new flagship store recently opened in Milan, on Corso Venezia, 23. Abroad, Sabelt can be found in "La Guardia" and " Marcel Lassance" in Paris, as well as "LodenFrei" and "Bartu" in Monaco, Germany.