The first thing Binith Shah noticed about his future wife, Elizabeth Rickard, were her shoes. While he was visiting the New York City offices of Emanuel Ungaro, where Rickard worked, "I heard her clicking on the marble all the way down the hall before I even saw her," says Shah. "I was like, 'Who is that in those fabulous high heels?' "

Six years later, the couple's own shoes are walking red carpets around the world. Drea de Matteo wore her black satin peep-toe Rickard Shahs to the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards this year. "They're the highest and sexiest of all my heels, and comfortable too," she says. Jessica Alba, who wore her silver satin heels for a Letterman visit last month, raves, "I could wear them five years from now and still feel like the most stylish woman on the block."

U.K.-born Rickard, 35, and Shah, 36, first paired up a few months after their encounter in New York. Shah was living in Seattle at the time, working for his Indian family's fashion consulting company, so they embarked on a long-distance romance. In 2000 he joined her in New York and they started their own accessories line. Rickard designed the handbags; Shah handled the business. After a Brooklyn factory botched their first order, says Shah, the two decided "to move to Italy and do this properly." They also decided to tie the knot. Their 2001 wedding at a castle in Tuscany was an eclectic affair: "There were English ladies in hats, Indians in saris and all our New York fashionista friends in black," says Shah.

Soon the couple were celebrating retail success as well, with stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Fred Segal ordering their handmade bags and shoes. In 2003 they opened their own boutique in London, where early fans like Yasmin LeBon dropped by for Rickard's vintage-inspired designs in leather, exotic skins and satin. The company now sells 10,000 pairs of shoes and 300 bags a year, with prices ranging from $445 to $5,000.

The couple moved to London briefly when they opened their boutique, but after the birth of daughter Sofia six months ago returned to Italy, where life feels luxurious to them, even if the company has yet to make a profit. Their three-bedroom farmhouse outside Florence is a short drive from some of the company's cobblers. "How often do you have a job where you can be with your baby all day?" says Shah. "We're doing what people dream about," says Rickard.

But spotting their creations on the street still gives them a thrill. "When you see someone wearing your shoes, you want to stalk them," says Rickard. "You just want to follow them down the street and ask all about them."

Jennifer Wulff. Courtney Rubin in Florence and Lycia Naff in Los Angeles