Alessandro Berluti was born in 1865 in Senigallia, a small village in the Italian region of the Marches. After having been trained as a cabinetmaker during his youth, he left his homeland at the age of 19 to try his skills abroad. He arrived in Paris in the late 19th century, a time when the city was experiencing an explosion of creative and artistic expansion. For a decade thereafter, Alessandro worked as a shoemaker, crafting bespoke shoes for clients of international renown, men and women alike, including such sophisticat...