Diego Della Valle, chairman of italian luxury group Tod’s, just threw down a gauntlet in the war against off-shore manufacturing at a press conference at La Scala in Milan.

Announcing Tod’s partnership with the opera (they are underwriting all productions for two years; in return, the choreographer Gianluca Schiavoni created a ballet for La Scala dancers filmed at the theatre about the making of a Tod’s loafer) he said, “this could be a breakthrough that allows large companies and cultural institutions to work together to convey the high quality of craftsmanship in Italy. This was a way for us to confirm our leadership of the Made in Italy movement, and we are going to take it to China and Japan, as well as to students to convey the message of our values in Italy: high quality, moral, ethical, and artistic.” Read more