Diego Della Valle

La Scala is easily one of the top 10 symbols of Italy's cultural excellence. That makes it vital to our global image. Closing it would send a message to the rest of the world that Italy doesn't care. ”

When you work too much, you are boring - that is possible. But to have a happy life, if you can do several things in the correct way, that is perfect. ”

I come from a family with a long tradition in shoemaking, and I still live in a region famous for its shoemakers. It is getting harder and harder to find skilled workers. There are no professional training institutes, so we have to train our own employees. And an apprenticeship takes three years. ”

My father taught me respect for quality as well as a sense of dignity - great values as we face a world going in a different direction. I try to teach my children to stay close to the real things. ”

I remember seeing the Colosseum for the first time when I was a young boy. It left a lasting impression on me. ”

The idea behind our shoes is simple: they are as light as possible, very soft and made from the finest leather we can buy. We try to make a combination of something that looks fantastic and is at the same time fantastically comfortable. This is the type of luxury people want to buy now, things that they can use every day. ”

On weekends, the U.S. was casual; in Italy the weekend was very formal. I came to understand that weekends are about free time, and that one could wear high quality, tasteful products that weren't so formal. ”

Almost everyone wears rubber on their feet these days, but there was a time when it was considered cheap. Luxury shoes had leather soles, which were rigid and heavy. ”

There is a time to be chic and sportive, there is a time to be sexy and feminine, but it's hard to find the balance, and Tod's has done that. ”

I bought into Saks as a personal investment because, when I was a young man and went to America for the first time, it seemed to me that Saks was like a cathedral of retail. I never dreamt that I could one day be a part of it. And now I am. ”