Museo D'Socka

The Museo D'Socka presents the d'Socka, traditional boiled-wool slippers of the Lys Valley, alongside regional costumes and the craft techniques associated with them.

Why it matters

The Museo D'Socka is associated with a social cooperative established to produce the traditional slippers of the Lys Valley and regional costumes. Patterns, materials, slippers and garments document a domestic craft shaped by Walser culture and mountain life.

What to notice

The d'Socka are made from boiled wool (lana cotta), a fulled fabric suited to cold mountain homes. Their hand-sewn construction reflects a tradition revived by the cooperative founded in 2001. The cooperative also documented the festive dress of the Lys Valley, treating regional costume as part of the area's living heritage.

Context and history

The Walser settlers who colonised the upper Lys Valley from the thirteenth century brought with them a textile tradition suited to a harsh climate, and house slippers of felted wool became a staple of domestic manufacture across the Gressoney valleys. The craft nearly faded with the twentieth century, and the cooperative behind the Museo D'Socka — founded in 2001 by Luciana Ferraris, who had spent roughly the previous decade reviving the hand-sewing of the classic slippers — is credited with bringing it back to commercial and cultural life. The cooperative's work has included slippers and shoes in felt and cowhide, cushions, blankets, capes, bags, accessories and regional costumes.