Batta - Brown – Belvedere Shoes。Founded in 1986, Belvedere Shoes is known for crafting genuine exotic leather footwear made thoughtfully from responsibly sourced calf, ostrich, eel, crocodile, and alligator leather. DETAILS: This dress shoe weds superior construction with everyday comfort. It features a soft, textured leather upper and a fully cushioned footbed. “They call me the Gator Man,” he says with a laugh. “I don\'t know why ... they just do.” He shakes his head and chuckles again. Stefano Giovacchini has a thick Italian accent, courtesy of growing up in Florence, Italy. But it’s not just the language and a charming grin that he picked up from home. His passion for luxury footwear blossomed early on, nestled between the tanneries and shoe factories of his youth. Belvedere\'s story began in 1986 when Stefano moved to California to carve out his career in the shoe industry. He started as many entrepreneurs do: in the back of a garage with a phone extension cord stretching from the kitchen. \"Between you and me,\" he says “I hear that\'s how Google At first Stefano\'s clientele consisted of small shoe stores and boutiques. \"They started to buy, some in Burlingame, some on Union Street. Then I showed the shoes to a buyer for Nordstrom in San Mateo. This guy here gave me the chance. He ordered maybe two or three hundred pairs ... for me, it was three million pairs. And then they started selling! Eventually, Stefano had hundreds of shoes selling in the Bay Area Nordstrom stores NWOT