Pedü is Lanzada town's (Valmalenco) characteristic footwear made of a thick fabric sole with velvet ribbed and laced upper sewn onto it. Hand made by the women of the town, Pedü were by far the most common footwear in the Valmalenco until the 1950s. This characteristic shoe consists of a söla (sole) - made of multiple layers of fabric recycled from used clothes placed on top of each other and sewn together with the help of a gügia d'i pedü (a large triangular needle) - a shoe upper - made of two layers of fabric sewn together, velvet on the outside and fabric or corduroy on the inside - and laces inserted with a hole.
Pedü are typical footwear from Valmalenco, a mountain area in the heart of Italian Alps. They were used everyday both inside and outside the house. Everyone was wearing them and there were different kinds of Pedü: the one used as slippers, for everyday life, or the one for special occasions. The Pedü were generally made in dark colours. However, the ones for the special occasions, such as weddings, baptisms or christenings, were decorated with ribbons and bows and made in brighter or lighter colours.
The Pedü project is the outcome of the joint efforts of a local school of tailoring, the Municipality and the Library of Lanzada, a group of elderly ladies who know the art of making Pedü, an advertising agency, ValtNet, and the technical assistance by Emporio Marzotto, a local cotton mill. An initiative of great historical and cultural value has enabled a training course about the creation of the Pedü addressed to the students of the first and second year of the and tailoring school. The objectives of this new and innovative project are: - safeguarding the local traditions and culture; - encouraging inter-generational exchange; - training professionals capable of making and thus appreciating the importance of local crafts.
The Valmalenco, with its five towns - Lanzada, Chiesa in Valmalenco, Caspoggio, Spriana and Torre S.Maria – is a paradise of natural, historical, and ethnographic peculiarity in a wonderful region in the middle of the Alps. Some examples of these astonishing places are the scenographic mountain tops of the Pizzo Scalino, Monte Disgrazia and Pizzo Bernina - which mark the border between Italy and Switzerland at over 4000 meters – the Alpine glaciers and lakes, such as the Lake Lagazzuolo, the wonderful Lake Entova or the more famous Lake Palù, and the high meadows like Campagneda and Valposchiavina. Valmanenco is also famous for the numerous minerals (260 different types) that, in the past, gave to the region a huge and well-deserved celebrity. A visit to the Miniera della Bagnada di Lanzada, the Ecomuseo and the Museo Storico della Valmalenco give visitors the chance to get to know better all the aspects of the local life, job, culture and environment over the last few centuries.
