It's easy to miss Hidetaka Fukaya's bespoke shoemaking shop in the heart of Florence. "Il Micio" lurks in a narrow street in a tangle of other narrow streets, as if unwilling to call attention to itself. Just like a cat. And that's fitting because Fukaya, recently named among Italy's 100 best artisans by the Italia Su Misura website, takes his inspiration from feline elegance and independence — and, in fact, named his shop after the Italian word for kitty-cat.

"The cat is among the most beautiful creatures on Earth, both in form and movement," Fukaya says. "And they don't try to curry favor. The most important thing for me is to make customers happy, but as a craftsman it's important to maintain my freedom of expression."

It's a philosophy that has helped Fukaya win respect and accolades in Italy's secretive world of master craftsmen, with roots in Medieval guilds, in a city that is notorious for being one of the country's most insular.