Roberto Ugolini – Oxford

Roberto Ugolini is an Italian brand founded in 2019. “From all over the globe, aficionados of the finest custom shoes in the world make their way to Florence, and specifically to Via dei Michelozzi, right in Piazza Santo Spirito. For this is where the inconspicuous and rather humble entrance to a small workshop nestled between an osteria and a café is the gateway to the finest leather craftsman in the world: Roberto Ugolini. For more than two decades, Ugolini has refined his craft to the point where his shoes are revered by people from Singapore to New York.

Entering the Ugolini workshop is like entering wonderland, one scented by the fine Florentine leather test shoes lined up in rows, exuding a sense of rarified luxury, fine waxes and balms, and exquisite taste. Long a passionate collector of unusual and artistic fragrances himself – perhaps owing to the sensory luxuriousness that links fine leather and perfume – Roberto Ugolini was encouraged by a long-time customer, the German perfume connoisseur and craftsmanship enthusiast Herbert Stricker, to make the leap from fragrance enthusiast and collector to creative director of his own line of fine fragrances.

Drawing on Stricker’s long experience as a retail distributor of fragrance, together they worked on a carefully edited line of fragrances that reflect the history and artisanship of Florentine craftspeople. In this spirit, the leather label of each bottle is punched by hand and carefully placed on the bottles, and the caps are made of fine ram’s horn (available as matte or polished).

Roberto Ugolini’s perfumes are timeless, unique and tasteful. Wearing one of them is like choosing to wear a hand-made leather shoe or a bag made by the hands of a Florentine craftsman, each detail reflective of long hours of loving labour and respect for history and tradition. These scents emphasize rather than compete with their wearer’s personal identity and their desire for individuality.” – a note from the brand.