Designer of undeniable talent, with a youthful love for the automobile and a strong, determined character. Since winning the "car of the year" award five times as evidence of his extraordinary skill, his name has been linked to excellence in the automotive sector.
He began his career in 1972 at Fiat SpA Turin at the Centro Stile and then joined the firm of Rodolfo Bonetto in Milan, where he designed car interiors. From 1979 to 1986, he was invited by Franco Mantegazza and Renzo Piano to direct the Design Department of the IDEA Institute. In 1986 Alfa Romeo asked him to become Director of the Centro Stile. Starting in 1999 he managed the design department of the Seat brand.
He later became Design Director of Audi Group (Audi, Seat, Lamborghini). The goal is precise: to relaunch Audi autos with unique and emotional design. He is responsible for the new path taken by Audi's style that immediately asserts itself with an extraordinary design, thanks to the famous "single frame" front.
On January 1, 2007, he took over the Design Management of the Volkswagen Group, which includes 12 brands: Audi, Volkswagen, Seat, Skoda, and in the luxury sector, Porsche, Bugatti, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Ducati and, in industrial vehicles, Scania, Man, Volkswagen commercial. A huge challenge in terms of complexity, organization and synergies, Walter De Silva bases his research on defining the design criteria for each brand and on the formal simplicity of the models, combining German technique with his great Italian creativity.
Compasso d'Oro for his career, De Silva has not forgotten the product design and offers us two magnificent examples in his design scenario such as the Leica M9 Titanium and the Luft armchair for Poltrona Frau.
He brought his career as a car designer to an end in December 2015, and immediately started again with his secret but never hidden dream, designing women's shoes ... thus, alongside his wife, Emmanuelle, WALTER DE SILVA SHOES was born.
