Behind the label: Santoni

Santoni began life in 1975, when husband and wife Andrea and Rosa Santoni set up a shoe company in the Marche region of Italy. From the beginning the core principles were to produce quality, Italian-made shoes and steadfastly remain a family company. Despite global success in recent years, and ballooning in size to 450 employees, the label is still run by the family, with the Santonis' son, Giuseppe, in charge and moving the brand into new areas such as accessories and women's and juniors' shoes.

a very easy question to answer once you've seen the shoes. Made in Italy isn't just a label, the philosophy is reflected in the feel and look of Santoni's shoes. We also love the brand's zealous independence and tight-knit family structure, a welcome change from the faceless corporate nature of fashion today.

there's so much to choose from as Santoni covers everything from classic men's shoes to trainers. But if we had to choose, we would go for the looser, freer more Italian spin on the traditional derby shoe (above; HK$6,280) and the nonchalant sprezzatura style of the lo-top green leather trainers (left; HK$3,730).

Santoni is in The Landmark, Central, tel: 2392 8903.