Thierry Rabotin was born in the village of Thollet in Southwestern France. In 1970, he moved to Paris to take a course at ESMOD, the prestigious fashion school. Fascinated by this world, he decided to dedicate himself to fashion design, and for many years following, he had a great success as a stylist of women's and children's knitwear.

In 1977 Thierry Rabotin discovered his passion for shoes, and took a footwear-designing course at the AFPIC institute where he learned to construct as well as to conceive footwear. "During my long professional route I made many important encounters, but the most wonderful was and remains, the one with Giovanna and Karl who permitted me to liberate all my creativity allowing me in this way to give the best of myself.'

We would probably keep our feet perfectly healthy if it were possible to walk barefoot over soft earth for all of one's life. If, however, we were obliged to wear uncomfortable and perhaps low-quality shoes, we could cause serious damage to our feet. It would probably take a long period of time and the aid of comfortable or orthopedic shoes to bring our feet back into the best functional condition. The sacchetto construction method, along with the artisan working process of custom-made footwear, is the most traditional working technique that holds comfort as its highest principle.

Why is this working method called "sacchetto"? Because during the sewing phase, the lining is assembled to the upper by fixing it like a sac along its edge. It differs from other footwear making procedures because it does not use an insole. This way the finished article becomes lighter, and requires neither metal reinforcement nor the use of thermoplastic glue.

A ligther weight means that it makes it easier to walk; the shoe permits the natural movement of the foot since all the components that usually make it rigid are missing. During the hand assembly, the lining, for which only the best grained nappa is used, is fixed in two steps to the upper, conserving in this manner softness and the enhanced capacity of transpiration, thus providing a perfect ambience for the foot.

Only water-soluble glues that once dry do not develop harmful vapours are employed. A shock absorbing and transpiring material is inserted between the sole and the lining to lighten the articulations all along the foot. This material, thanks to a special open-cellular structure, maintains its volume for a long time.

This working method has a few, though negligible, drawbacks. The absence of the insole does not permit the application of high heels, or in other cases, of big rigid heel counters, but are substituted with smaller hand applied ones.

The perfect fit and maximum comfort that the sacchetto working method allows has always influenced the form of Thierry Rabotin's shoes and yet the stylistic concepts of true avant-garde design are never overlooked.