Ferruccio Ferragamo, pictured outisde London's Appeal Court, has won the latest round of a legal battle with his estranged wife
An Italian fashion tycoon has won the latest round of a legal battle with his estranged wife who wants to settle their multi-million pound divorce in Britain.
Ilaria Giusti, 53, is asking courts in the UK to rule on her divorce from shoe designer Ferruccio Ferragamo, despite moving here five years after splitting from her husband.
But Mr Ferragamo, chairman of Florence based Salvatore Ferragamo, which was the go-to shoe label for Golden Age Hollywood icons, including Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich, says judges in Italy should make the decisions instead.
The case is the latest another example of so-called 'divorce tourism' which has seen London nicknamed the 'divorce capital of the world' after a series of generous payouts.
A judge based in the Family Division of the High Court in London last year ruled that legal proceedings in England should be halted pending rulings by judges in Italy.
Ms Giusti had asked two Court of Appeal judges to overturn that decision.
But today Lord Justice Moylan and Lord Justice Baker, who had overseen a Court of Appeal hearing in London earlier this month, said they preferred an argument put forward by Mr Ferragamo's lawyers.
They said judges in England should 'defer to the Italian court' and let Italian judges decide whether they 'remained seised' of proceedings.
However the two appeal judges also said Ms Giusti's English bid should not be thrown out.
They said her 'divorce petition' should be 'adjourned', not dismissed, pending rulings by Italian judges.
Ilaria Giusti, 53, (left with her estranged husband and right, outside London's Appeal Court) is asking courts in the UK to rule on her divorce from the shoe designer despite moving here five years after the marriage broke down
Mr Justice Francis, who is based in the Family Division of the High Court in London, had initially analysed the case.
He had explained, in a ruling in November 2018, how both were Italian and how their marriage had broken down after about eight years.
The judge said they had 'enjoyed a very high standard of living'.
They married in 2004, and have one son, born in 2001, who is now 17.
The former marital home of the couple, Il Borro, a lavish 1,750 acre estate in Tuscany
Ms Giusti has now set up home in Muswell Hill, north London, but had lived in Italy throughout the entire marriage. She moved to the UK five years ago
They have been estranged since 2012 after Mr Ferragamo applied for legal separation from Ms Giusti, but it took six years to be completed after she appealed.
He launched his bid to divorce her in Italy in March 2018, one day after the separation case ended.
But, by that time, she had beaten him to it, having relocated to London in August 2017
