Ryan creates all the designs, sources all his own leathers, mainlyfromItaly and the US, and has his boots painstakingly handmade by a team of fastidious Mexican bootmakers, 16 people whose total production is 8 or 9 pairs a day.
The foundation, directed by Sir Patrick Fairweather, a former British ambassador to Albania and to Italy, and financed mainly by grants from David Packard, heir to America's Hewlett-Packard fortune, has been leading the attempt to ensure that Butrint's development is adequately financed and sensitively handled.