← Benjamin Earley Naples, Italy · New York

CO-FOUNDER · 2013–2017

Paul
Evans

Handmade Italian shoes, sold straight to the customer. The first direct-to-consumer brand to sell true luxury.

THE IDEA

Help men everywhere step up their shoe game.

Luxury shoes carried two markups before they reached a foot, one for the brand and one for the store. We cut out the store. The customer got a better shoe for less, and we kept the relationship.

We found our maker in Naples, a family factory more than a hundred years old. Every pair was Blake-stitched in Italian calfskin, then hand-painted by a Neapolitan artisan, so no two finishes came out the same.

An artisan hand-polishing brown wingtips at a workbench in Naples — The finishing bench in Naples. Every pair was painted and polished by hand.

The Stewart penny loafer in Midnight Blue — Stewart penny loafer · Midnight Blue

The Martin wholecut in Brandy Brunito croc-embossed leather — Martin wholecut · Brandy Brunito Croc

$4mm

annual sales by Year 3

100+

countries shipped to

35%

of customers bought again every year

<10%

return rate on shoes bought online

WHAT I DID

Design and product

I ran design and worked the line with the factory in Naples, from lasts and leathers to the hand-painted finish.

Capital

We raised over $3mm, and the last round before I left valued the company at over $16mm.

The repeat customer

A shoe you can't try on has to fit the first time. Getting that right is why a third of customers came back every year.

Benjamin's feet in Havana Brown Van Damme Belgian loafers on New York steps — Those are my feet. The Van Damme Belgian loafer in Havana Brown.

The Poitier double monk strap in Havana Brown — Poitier double monk · Havana Brown

The Cagney II stitched cap-toe oxford in Oxblood — Cagney II cap-toe oxford · Oxblood

I left in June 2017 to build real estate. The lessons about selling direct and keeping customers came with me to HOLT.

See HOLT → Back to Benjamin Earley

Let's talk

Emailbenjamin@squareparkcapital.com X@earley_benjamin LinkedInin/bearley

© 2026 Benjamin Earley New York, NY