WOMEN have Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin. Men have Berluti.

And Singapore men who've been buying these upper class shoes in Paris can now trot over to Ngee Ann City since Berluti has finally opened a boutique here.

For over 100 years, the Berluti store on Rue Marbeuf was the only purveyor of the brand's footwear, with many members of the global elite making frequent pilgrimages to the store in order to be fitted for a pair of bespoke shoes.

There are now 32 stores around the world, and the French marque is as proud of its heritage as it is of its illustrious and eclectic list of customers from artists such as Pablo Picasso to filmmakers such as Steven Speilberg.

'It is a sort of club, if you will, comprised of people from all over the world who have supported the brand for many years,' declares Laurent Fabre, the Asia regional manager of Berluti. 'We have known many of our customers in Singapore or Hong Kong from meeting them in the Paris stores.'

Luxury shopping: Berluti shoes are famous for the trademark finish of the leather, which has a unique sheen that is reportedly very difficult to replicate

While Blahnik and Louboutin have been around only for the last few decades, Berluti was founded in 1895, when Italian Alessandro Berluti started making boots in Italy. His son, Torello, then emigrated to Paris in 1928, bringing his father's technique with him.

The company was bought over by luxury conglomerate LVMH in 1993, but the brand has remained within the creative control of the family who built it, with the founder's fourth-generation descendant Olga Berluti acting as the current CEO and chief designer of the shoes.

The cult following that Berluti has garnered throughout the world can be explained by several factors. Most famous is the trademark finish of the leather, which has a unique sheen that is reportedly very difficult to replicate.

And then the diversity of Ms Berluti's compelling designs is also a major selling point. Ranging from the conservative to the avant-garde, the selection of Berluti designs cater to the creative and the the corporate, attracting both the likes of Andy Warhol and scions of business empires.

But men, be warned. Given their price tags, at more than $1,000 a pair, these aren't slip-ons that you can chuck into your regular shoe cabinet at the end of a work day. 'Like all luxury items, they require great care, ' says Mr Fabre. He recommends that they be polished in a specific way - which is to be done twice weekly for 15 minutes per shoe - and that they should only be worn once a week in a humid climate.

Owning a pair apparently also entitles you membership to a 'club'. Since there was an informal one already, Berluti has created an actual club.

Named after a hero in one of Proust's novels, the Swann Club's main activity is to hold series of dinners hosted by Ms Berluti herself, where longtime clients gather in locations such as the Crillon Hotel in Paris to learn how to care for their shoes.

And sometimes, care also needs to be taken over whether you want people to know if you own a pair of Berlutis. A certain ex-foreign minister in France got axed from the Cabinet because of his Berlutis - possibly the most infamous incident linked to the luxury brand. His pair was given to him by his mistress.

The French public could definitely handle the mistress; but it was the cost of the shoes that they could never forget.

This article was first published in The Business Times on Aug 16, 2008.