Luxury Shoes - Who is Berluti?

In short, Berluti is predominantly a shoemaking company that manufactures luxury shoes and boots solely for men. Their unique style of leather finishes and sublime designs will stop you in your tracks and make you wonder, ‘What shoes are those?’

Originally founded by Italian Alessandro Berluti in Paris in 1895, the company has been successfully managed by Alessandro’s grand-niece, Olga Berluti. The company was acquired by the LVMH group in 1993, with Olga as the chairwoman.

Olga’s unique passion for color and love of fine leather has made Berluti into one of the most exquisite luxury shoe brands in the world. The list of celebrity clients wearing the Berluti name are limited to, Robert De Niro, Andy Warhol, Gérard Depardieu, Yves Saint Laurent, Arnold Schwarzeneger and Bryan Ferry.

The brand has very limited distribution—in the US it can only be found at their New York store and five select Barneys New York locations, while in Europe it is limited to eight Berluti boutiques.

Exclusivity is one of the main reasons you haven’t heard of Berluti before. Olga Berluti’s imagination stretches far to create asymmetrical designs that have never been seen before on luxury shoes. Her experiments with color treatments of leather give Berluti shoes the privilege of being called artwork rather than just footwear.

Olga’s talent and passion are so pronounced that they have inspired Berluti’s customers to create the International Swann Club; a place where faithful customers can share their admiration of shoes, annually.