Audrey Hepburn had Hubert Givenchy, Rita Hayworth had Jean Louis, Michelle Obama has Jason Wu and the pope has the Gammarellis.
From their little shop in Rome, the Gammarelli family has been
outfitting popes, as well as cardinals, bishops and priests since 1798.
Now, "Mes Chaussettes Rouges" (My Red Socks), a Paris-based online
retailer, is offering a tiny piece of Gammarelli style to the general
public.
"I first saw the red socks in the early '90s on the French prime
minister, Edouard Balladur, and thought it was very amusing, but I found
out that the Gammarelli socks were only available in Rome," said
Vincent Metzger, the proprietor of "Mes Chaussettes Rouges."
Metzger and a friend created the business initially by purchasing a bulk
quantity of socks from Gammarelli and selling them to friends in the
summer of 2009.
They saw a business opportunity, Metzger told Catholic News Service. "We went to Rome again and stayed there for three nights for negotiations, and we made a contract," he said.
Other than the Gammarelli shop behind the Pantheon in Rome, he said,
"Mes Chaussettes Rouges" is the only licensed retailer of Gammarelli
products.
He claimed the Gammarelli socks are now worn by French Prime Minister
Francois Fillon, "which I think is very funny. He buys them on our
website," Metzger said.
Gammarelli socks are "the best quality, because they are made with long
fibered cotton, making them more solid." And because the seam is done by
hand on the sides of the foot rather than machine sewn at the toe,
Metzger said he thinks they are much more comfortable.
Gammarelli socks are designed as religious clothing, so they are
available only in cardinal red, bishop purple and priest black. The pope
wears white socks, but "Mes Chaussettes Rouges" only offers white upon
special request.
"Mes Chaussettes Rouges" targets a particular kind of customer -- what
they call "The Gammarelli Man" -- who, according to the website, is
someone who possesses true virtue in all things and appreciates the
little things in life.