In 1916, Luca Del Vecchio opened a shoe repair shop in a small town near Salerno, southern Italy. Almost a century later, his great-great nephews started using online marketplaces to sell their handmade leather shoes and accessories. This revolutionised the productivity of Del Vecchio Group at a time when the country’s independent businesses were struggling to stay afloat.

Orazio Del Vecchio and his brother (also named Luca) grew up playing with leather in the family shop and became the fourth generation to take over the family business. In 2013, they set up an eBay store and increased turnover by 400 per cent in three years. The online transition was "an intuitive move to keep up with times", says Orazio.

"New technologies allowed us to get by the web and today, we can say that Del Vecchio Group is the greatest shoe shop in Europe, with a 2000 square meter workshop where our handmade belts come to life".