Pantofola d’ Oro is an Italian manufacturer of football boots, leisure footwear and clothing, whose roots can be traced back to 1886, when the old Lazzarini cobbler’s shop was founded in Ascoli Piceno.

However, only since the 1950s have hand-crafted elite football boots been produced, when Emidio Lazzarini took over the business from his father. Emidio was a wrestler, wearing shoes which were uncomfortable and unsuitable, so he decided to make his own wrestling shoes, which proved to be much softer.

Eventually, Emidio started to make bespoke shoes for many other wrestlers as well, and then contacted the local football team, known as A.S. Ascoli at the time, to begin making customised football boots for the team.

Within a short period of time, the boots became renowned for their exceptional softness. In fact, each Pantofola d’ Oro shoe is individually crafted by hand, using the softest K-Leather available, allowing the boots to mould to each player’s individual foot shape while giving outstanding ball control.

The legendary Juventus player John Charles was an early customer of Lazzarini’s, and he gave Lazzarini football boots their name by saying: “These aren’t boots, they’re slippers . . . golden slippers,” with the Italian for ‘golden slipper’ being ‘Pantofola d’Oro’.

Up to the present day, top players have preferred Lazzarini-made football boots. These include Fabio Capello, Jürgen Klinsmann, Roberto Mancini and Paolo Di Canio.