Diego and Andrea Della Valle by Massimiliano MiglioradoTod’s luxury footwear chairman billionaire Diego Della Valle confirms that work will begin on Rome’s historic Colosseum in December. The company is donating $30 million to restore the global landmark, assuring Italians that he will not commercialize the restoration.

“We have done this for all the people who work in our group,” Della Valle said. “I think they have the right to expect from a company as ours, which fortunately is doing well, that we show social responsibility.”

Della Valle also urged other Italian companies to underwrite similar projects, at other historic sites. The last major effort at restoration at the Coliseum came in 1938-39. Dictator Benito Mussolini was in charge during that restoration, and he spared no expense in restoring the grandeur of the 2000 year old structure.

Tod’s Fall 2012 Campaign

Tod’s Fall/Winter Campaign features Cameron Russell and Shannon Click by Michelangelo Di Battista, with styling by Patti Wilson and art direction by Antonio Ballauri.

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On the subject of speed, the chairman (of Ferrari Luca Cordero di Montezemolo) and his friend Diego Della Valle, the founder of Tod’s and a friend for 25 years, and Seragnoli, a great Italian industrial family, are busy building Europe’s first high-speed rail line, called the Italo. Running between Milan and Rome, it will begin operating next year (and did).