How This Company Wants to Be the Warby Parker of Shoes M.Gemi brings affordable Italian luxury directly to the shoe-obsessed.

Many—if not most—women have a weakness for fancy footwear. M.Gemi, a direct-to-consumer luxury Italian shoe label, was created for them. The brand, which launched in March with a website and mobile app, is named after one of its founding members, the Sicilian-born chief merchant Maria Gangemi, and is backed by $14 million in seed and Series A funding.

"The beauty of shoes is the client," says founder Ben Fischman, who previously introduced flash-fashion-sale site Rue La La. "She is obsessed with them. She's got an insatiable appetite for shoes. We think obsession and insatiable appetite create great business dynamics."

M.Gemi is the latest in a long line of startups similar to Warby Parker, the eyeglass pioneer in the online direct-to-consumer space.