Tod's

Filippo Della Valle started making shoes at his family home in the Marche, sewing soles and uppers in the kitchen before opening a cobbler's workshop. At the end of the 1960s his son Dorino and Dorino's wife founded the family's first artisan shoe company, selling women's shoes in Germany and to American department stores.

Dorino's elder son Diego joined in 1975 after studying law in Bologna and marketing in the United States. He turned the workshop into a factory, took over in 1978 and named the company J.P. Tod's, a name he chose from a Boston phone book to appeal to American buyers. The "J.P." was dropped in 1999.

The pebble-soled Gommino driving loafer, with 133 rubber nubs on the sole, arrived in 1979 and the first handbags in 1980. Diego used early forms of influencer marketing, and Hollywood stars and Diana, Princess of Wales, who inspired the D-bag, made the brand famous; critics have long said the Gommino imitates The Original Car Shoe of 1963. He became chief executive in 1986, and the family added Fay and Hogan, forming the Tod's Group.

His younger brother Andrea took over day-to-day running in the late 1990s. In 1995 Tod's bought 60% of the French shoemaker Roger Vivier, and the later purchase of the rest from the Della Valle family drew accusations of self-dealing. Tod's listed on the Borsa Italiana in November 2000 and in 2011 funded the restoration of the Colosseum in a €25 million deal.

Derek Lam was creative director from 2006 to 2012, followed by Alessandra Facchinetti from 2013, with Andrea Incontri leading menswear from 2014. Walter Chiapponi held the role from 2019 to 2023, and Matteo Tamburini has led it since December 2023.

In 2024 the Della Valle family and L Catterton, a private equity firm backed by LVMH, took the company private, with the family keeping 54%. John Galantic replaced Diego Della Valle as chief executive in September 2024 and left in May 2026; Diego remains chairman. The group is based in Casette d'Ete, Sant'Elpidio a Mare.