Acceptance of self is a stage of life that everyone should pass through, but not everyone does. Some of the most “wildly successful” people I know have absolutely no clue who they are, no understanding of what they believe, and no notion of how to express themselves, and I sympathise with them because I know how long it took me to feel comfortable to be the man I am.

Emilio Colonna didn’t grow up in the leather-working trade and yet he had the patience to teach himself the skills required to make the hand-crafted leather watchstraps, wallets, belts and bags he sells from his characterful store on the Via Scandriglia in Rome.