Mario Bemer

Mario Bemer is the younger brother of Stefano Bemer, who began the family's shoemaking work in 1983 in Greve in Chianti, starting from shoe repair before building a reputation as one of his generation's most respected bespoke makers. Mario worked at his brother's side for years, including on the brand's ready-to-wear division, effectively serving as Stefano's right-hand man. Stefano Bemer died on July 27, 2012, at age 48. Several months later, the Stefano Bemer company was bought by the Florentine family behind the leather goods house Scuola del Cuoio, and Mario initially stayed on with the reorganized business. By late 2013, however, he had left to start his own company under his own name, setting up a traditional bespoke workshop in central Florence. There he works alongside bootmaker Seiji Miyagawa, a craftsman with his own long-standing connection to Stefano's circle. Mario has described his work as an attempt to honor his brother's exacting standards for quality and creativity rather than simply continuing the earlier brand under a new name.