Luciano was designing sandals in Argentina when someone on the team came up with a crazy idea: get a pair to Messi. The path was tortuous — “they remembered that they knew the brother of a friend of De Paul’s aunt”, they said with laughter — but the midfielder served as the bridge and the flip-flops reached their destination.
What no one imagined was the response. On December 6, 2021, Luciano saw a message appear on his Instagram that began like this: “Hi, Luciano. How are you? I’m Leo”. The best player in the world not only thanked him for the gift — he praised the box, he praised the sandals — but also asked for more pairs for the whole family: size 33, 29, and 26 for his children, 35 for Antonela, and 42/43 for himself.
The message went viral days after Messi lifted the World Cup in Qatar 2022, and the small Argentine venture suddenly became the most famous in the country. Sometimes, the simplest gesture from the greatest person in the world is all it takes.