A driving force
The story of the Tod’s Gommino: how Italy’s most elegant loafer became a modern icon
- Words: Harry Jarman
- Photography: Noah Sapon
There are very few shoes that can genuinely claim icon status. Fewer still that have managed to transcend trends, generations and dress codes while remaining almost entirely unchanged. Yet the Tod’s Gommino has achieved precisely that. Soft, understated and instantly recognisable thanks to its pebble sole, the Gommino has become shorthand for a certain type of effortless Mediterranean elegance, the sort associated with classic sports cars, linen tailoring and summers spent somewhere between Portofino and Saint-Tropez.
Today, the shoe is worn by everyone from Hollywood actors and European royalty to finance executives escaping to the Italian coast for the weekend. But the story of the Gommino shoe begins long before Tod’s itself became our familiar global luxury powerhouse.
The origins of the driving shoe can be traced back to the 1950s, during Europe’s golden age of grand touring. Wealthy motorists and racing enthusiasts travelling through the winding roads of Italy and the South of France began searching for footwear designed for driving. Traditional leather-soled shoes proved slippery against metal pedals, whilst heavier footwear lacked the flexibility and comfort required behind the wheel of a Ferrari or Maserati.
“After receiving a pair from Diego Della Valle, Agnelli began wearing the shoes publicly, including during TV appearances”
The answer arrived in the form of the driving moccasin: a soft suede loafer fitted with small rubber grips on the sole to improve traction and pedal control. Lightweight, comfortable and easy to slip on, the driving shoe quickly became associated with a jet-set lifestyle. By the 1960s and 1970s, they’d become staples among European playboys, industrialists and Riviera regulars, often paired with open-collar shirts, sharply tailored trousers and oversized sunglasses. It was this exact world that inspired Tod’s Group CEO Diego Della Valle.
While travelling in the US during the 1970s, Della Valle encountered vintage examples of driving shoes and recognised an opportunity. Europe lacked a truly luxurious interpretation of the silhouette, one refined enough to move seamlessly between casual and professional settings. The Della Valle family had been producing shoes in Italy’s Marche region since the 1920s, but Diego understood something important: luxury consumers increasingly wanted comfort and ease alongside style. In 1979, Tod’s officially launched the Gommino loafer.
Inspired by traditional driving shoes but elevated through unmistakable Italian craftsmanship, the Gommino introduced softer leathers, cleaner lines and a level of refinement that separated it from anything else on the market. Most notably, the shoe featured 133 rubber pebbles embedded into the sole and heel, the famous “gommini” that would go on to define the brand itself. The name loosely translates to “little rubber pads”.
Unlike more rigid loafers of the period, the Gommino was designed around movement and comfort. Central to the design is its tubular construction. Rather than being built from separate rigid sections like traditional shoes, the sides and sole are crafted from a single piece of leather, allowing the shoe to mould naturally to the foot like a glove. The result is extraordinary softness and flexibility.
What appears deceptively simple from the outside is in fact an exceptionally complex piece of craftsmanship. Each pair of Gomminos undergoes more than 100 manual assembly steps before completion. Leather pieces are hand-cut and hand-stitched by artisans in Italy’s Marche region, where Tod’s production remains proudly rooted today. The exposed hand-sewn stitching across the upper remains one of the clearest markers of traditional Italian craftsmanship.
At a time when much of the luxury industry has shifted towards automation and mass production, Tod’s has remained deeply committed to artisanal manufacturing. The company often refers to this philosophy as “Artisanal Intelligence”, the belief that true luxury still depends on the human hand.
“Modern wearers include everyone from Daniel Craig and Ryan Reynolds to financiers”
Of course, no luxury icon becomes legendary without the right ambassadors. The Gommino’s transformation from elegant driving shoe into a global status symbol came largely thanks to Gianni Agnelli, perhaps the greatest male style icon Italy has ever produced. After receiving a pair from Diego Della Valle, Agnelli began wearing the shoes publicly, including during TV appearances. His endorsement elevated the Gommino among Italy’s elite before cementing its place within the wardrobes of international jet-setters, actors and tastemakers across the world.
By the 1980s and 1990s, the Gommino had become shorthand for understated wealth and sophistication. It represented a particular kind of luxury, discreet, elegant and entirely free from overt branding.
Modern wearers include everyone from Daniel Craig and Ryan Reynolds to financiers, entrepreneurs and European royals escaping to the Mediterranean for the summer. The shoe remains especially beloved within Italy itself.
And perhaps that is why the Gommino still feels so relevant more than four decades after its launch. In an era dominated by logos, oversized sneakers and trend-driven fashion, the Tod’s Gommino feels almost rebellious in its restraint. There is no obvious branding, no unnecessary embellishment, just exceptional leather, timeless design and flawless craftsmanship.
Ultimately, the Gommino was never designed to dominate social media feeds or become a passing trend piece. Instead, it was built around a far more enduring idea: the pursuit of comfort, elegance and ease. It remains one of the defining shoes of modern luxury menswear, not because it constantly reinvents itself, but because it never really needed to.
If the Gommino represents the timeless side of Mediterranean dressing, Tod’s latest collection offers a glimpse of its future. Drawing inspiration from a yacht once owned by the Kennedy family, it is a study in nautical sophistication and understated luxury.
