As I got the story, at some sort of trade show or expo, some Italians in the business referred to him as "Il Pagliaccio."
The latest installment in Prada's evil plan to run the English shoemaking tradition into the ground:
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88333
All right, this thread is going to lose its 50% more snark subtitle if things like this go unnoticed and uncommented upon:
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?p=846589#post846589
Even Cruiser (wink, wink) makes a contribution.