Bruno Magli, along with his brother Marino and sister Maria, started making women's shoes by hand in
Bologna,
Italy in 1936. Eleven years later, the company opened its first manufacturing plant and started making men's shoes as well. High profile customers like
Sofia Loren and a smattering of boutiques throughout Italy contributed to their booming success. Bruno Magli now has stores around the world and makes a wide variety of leather goods, but they are still primarily known for their expensive, well-made shoes.
The most free
publicity the company received concerned the bloody, size 12 Bruno Magli (model Lorenzo) footprints left at the
murder scene of
Nicole Brown-Simpson and
Ron Goldman.
O.J. Simpson, the defendant in that murder trial, denied even owning a pair of Bruno Maglis, going on to claim he'd never wear such "ugly-assed" shoes.