Indeed, they looked like a "last," the wooden model cobblers carve of a client's feet before designing custom shoes.

Berluti continues to specialize in making custom shoes that typically require two separate fittings and at least nine months to complete.

He has been making custom shoes since he was a 13-year-old in Hungary.

"There was a cobbler and he pounded leather into a custom shoe," he said.

It takes an average of six months to make each pair of custom shoes using a cast of the client's foot.

Now it's targeting specific consumer groups with custom shoes and going out of its way to be different.

Some people with bony abnormalities may require custom shoes to redistribute pressure.

For men, 16 styles of custom shoes are available.

He can (and will) wax poetic on the toe-box construction of a custom shoe.

The shoes are placed in these events and the custom shoes that consistently get the best response can become production shoes.