Diego Della Valle took his father's shoe shop and built the luxury brand Tod's

The Della Valle family's shoemaking went back to Diego's grandfather Filippo, a shoemaker; his father Dorino turned a small workshop into a factory that made high-quality shoes for brands such as Calvin Klein, Alaia and Neiman Marcus.

Diego joined his father's business in 1975, when it had around 15 employees, and took it over in 1978. Rather than continue as a supplier, he created his own branded product.

Inspired by American 'driving shoes', he combined a leather upper with a rubber pebble sole and named the company J.P. Tod's after a name in a Boston phonebook. The driving moccasin became the signature product.

Together with his brother Andrea, Diego turned Tod's into a global luxury group. By a 2006 profile the group had about $450 million in annual sales and owned Tod's, the high-end leather-goods company, plus Roger Vivier and other brands.

The brothers built Tod's into a global luxury group with roughly $450 million in annual sales, including Tod's, Roger Vivier and other brands.

Diego moved the family from contract making to building its own brand.

The pebble-soled moccasin gave a distinctive, ownable design signature.

The brothers expanded via acquisition and new brands toward luxury.

Using the family workshop as the base let them scale quality, not just volume.

A second-generation founder can turn a contract manufacturer into a brand by giving the product a name and a distinct design idea, not by just producing more of the same.

Tod's became one of Italy's best-known luxury leather houses, listing publicly while the Della Valle brothers retained control. Diego also used the family platform to revive brands including Schiaparelli, showing a family handover that created a permanent luxury institution.