If Kevin Martel needs advice on currency hedges or intellectual property rights, he calls his friends at Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group, and invites them over to try on some shoes. Martel, managing and creative director of Harrys of London, the luxury men’s shoemaker, cites this as one of the biggest advantages of being owned by Atelier, the Richemont-backed private equity group specialising in luxury fashion brands.

“When we need to consider hedging our currency against the dollar, that’s fine, but I went to art school, so this is a little out of my depth,” says Martel, who was hired in 2005 from Giorgio Armani, where he was head of the new accessories division. “We are not in day-to-day contact with Richemont, but on certain things we can use these amazing resources. We have access to their intellectual property attorneys to help us work out our trademarks all over the world.”

Paying full whack on fees to top lawyers and accountants is beyond many companies such as Harrys, which are still making the transition from start-up to established company. So, getting cut-price advice from the top consultants in the industry is a big help.

The company was founded as an innovative luxury men’s shoe brand in 2001 by Matthew Mellon, who wanted to replicate for men what his wife, Tamara Mellon, had done for women via Jimmy Choo. Martel, however, suggests that the reality of Harrys was more hype than hard-nosed sales, with Mellon focused almost entirely on generating buzz for the brand by putting a few prototypes on the feet of actors walking the red carpet at the Oscars.

The business/buzz gap was exacerbated by Mellon’s increasing distraction due to a messy divorce from Tamara and well-publicised personal problems. In need of a replacement executive to lead the company, Dawn Mello – the executive credited with helping turn round Gucci in the early 1990s – was asked by its investors to find someone suitable.

Mello turned to Martel, whom she had known since working as a consultant to Armani. A year later, Mello joined forces with Marty Wikstrom, the former managing director of Harrods, to create Atelier with backing from Richemont. Under their guidance, Atelier invested in Harrys at the start of this year. The group declined to comment for this article, but it has previously said it was attracted by the potential of the Harrys brand combined with Martel’s design talent. Martel says the investment has brought many advantages, including the financial muscle for the company to attract new management talent such as Andrew Wright from Ralph Lauren, to run sales and marketing.

Martel believes the injection of fresh funds from Atelier will also help the business expand this year by opening its first store, in London’s Mayfair, and by launching an online store. Up to now, its Italian-made shoes – ranging from a standard pair at £250-£300 to a £2,000 pair of alligator loafers – have only been sold wholesale to other retailers, such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Harrods.

“We have grown up a little – and that is good,” Martel says.