The Antonio Pacelli Story

From a North London shoe shop to serving Irish dancers around the world for over 40 years

Antonio Pacelli began because one North London shoe retailer kept being asked the same question.

Tom Gavigan, originally from County Westmeath, had built a successful career in the footwear trade. After arriving in London, he joined a shoe shop called Design Shoes as a sales assistant. Tom quickly worked his way up to manager and, within a few years, had taken over the business himself.

During the 1970s and 1980s, North London was home to a large Irish community. Thanks to his Irish accent, customers would regularly ask him if he sold Irish dance shoes.

At first, he simply stocked the leading Irish dance brand available at the time. However, after years of fitting shoes and helping customers find the right fit, he felt the products available could be improved.

He believed jig shoe tips could be redesigned to produce a stronger, deeper sound and better attract the attention of adjudicators. He also had ideas on how Irish dancing pumps could be improved.

Rather than accepting things as they were, he decided to do something about it.

Building Better Dance Shoes

During evenings and weekends, Tom began experimenting with new ideas in the garage at home.

For around eighteen months he worked on prototypes, refining designs and testing different concepts. His goal was simple: create better shoes for Irish dancers.

The first Antonio Pacelli product was a jig shoe featuring the new tip design Tom had developed.

The name Antonio Pacelli was inspired by Tom's parents, Anthony and Patricia. He combined their names and gave them an Italian twist. At the time, Italian shoes and leather goods were widely regarded as symbols of quality and craftsmanship, values that Tom wanted his own products to reflect.

The response from dancers was immediate.

Once customers tried the new designs, many switched from the brand they had previously worn. Word travelled quickly through the Irish dance world and before long teachers, feis vendors and retailers were approaching Tom looking to stock the range.

One moment always stood out to him.

The brand he had originally stocked eventually disappeared from the market. Whether that was connected to Antonio Pacelli's success or not, Tom took it as a sign that he was doing something right.

What had started as a side project was becoming a serious business.

From A Cupboard Behind A Shoe Shop

The early years of Antonio Pacelli looked very different to today.

For many years, the business operated from a small cupboard behind the shoe display in Design Shoes, Tom's shoe shop.

Regular customers became used to seeing stacks of Irish dance shoes tucked beneath fitting chairs while orders were packed and prepared in every spare corner available.

Nobody would have described it as spacious.

But it worked.

As demand grew, so did the range. New styles of pumps were introduced alongside poodle socks, jewellery and other Irish dance essentials.

The business continued to grow steadily throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, eventually reaching the point where the cupboard was struggling to cope.

Something had to change.

A Family Business Takes Shape

The early 2000s proved to be one of the most important periods in the company's history.

Tom's sons, Ally and Adrian, joined the business. Adrian brought a naturally creative eye and artistic background, while Ally contributed business management skills.

Adrian was the first to join. One of Adrian's first creative jobs was to design a new Antonio Pacelli logo to reflect its Irish heritage in a modern and contemporary way, as well as project the company's values.

Around the same time, Tom's wife Bridget became an integral part of the team, helping process and pack orders while bringing energy, humour and encouragement to the growing business.

Together, the family transformed Antonio Pacelli from Tom's successful side business into a growing family company, with each person bringing different skills, energy and ideas to the journey.

The company moved into its first dedicated office, located down the road from Design Shoes. The office handled the growing mail-order side of the business while Tom continued serving customers in the shop.

Locals soon became accustomed to the sight of trolleys piled high with Irish dance shoes, pumps and accessories being pushed up and down the busy North London high street as stock moved between the two premises.

While Tom focused on the retail side of the business, Ally, Adrian and Bridget concentrated on growing Antonio Pacelli.

Growing Beyond North London

The new office was a success, but not for long.

As mail-order and the wholesale side of the business continued to grow, Antonio Pacelli quickly outgrew the small office and moved again. Within just a few years, the business had expanded into dedicated warehouse and office premises in Wembley.

This period saw rapid growth. The product range continued to expand, while the company became one of the UK's largest distributors of Irish dance music CDs, working with many of the leading musicians in the Irish dance world.

The rise of dance trainers also created new opportunities. Irish dancers loved them for practice, travel and outdoor training, and demand grew so quickly that Antonio Pacelli launched a dedicated website, UK Dance Trainers, to support the growing market.

The business's early adoption of e-commerce continued to pay dividends. At a time when many small businesses were only beginning to explore the internet, Antonio Pacelli's website was attracting customers from across the UK and around the world. The company's success led to invitations to speak at small business events, and its story was even featured in national newspapers.

Ally speaking at a Design Council conference in 2004 after Antonio Pacelli's early success in e-commerce attracted national attention.

Bringing The Family Back Together

For almost a decade, the family effectively operated two businesses.

Tom remained at Design Shoes, continuing to serve customers and manage the retail side of the business, while Ally, Adrian and Bridget focused on growing Antonio Pacelli.

By 2010, the business had grown large enough to take the next major step.

Antonio Pacelli moved into a larger warehouse and office facility behind Wembley Stadium. The move created the potential for the entire family to work together again under one roof.

The Antonio Pacelli team (back left: Adrian, Tom, Bridget, Ally front left: Vanessa, Rose, Anna)

It gave Tom the opportunity to retire from Design Shoes and begin a new chapter.

The new premises included dedicated retail space for both Antonio Pacelli and Tom's growing wide-fitting footwear business.

For many people, retirement means slowing down.

For Tom, it meant starting a new chapter.

Over the years, Design Shoes had become well-known for helping customers with very wide feet and specialist fitting requirements. The new premises gave Tom the opportunity to close the shop and focus on developing what would eventually become Wide Shoes.

The Irish Dance Shop

The Irish dance shop in the new premises quickly became far more than a retail space.

It became a destination.

Families travelled from across the UK seeking expert fitting advice. Dancers with difficult-to-fit feet often travelled for hours to benefit from the expertise and advice of Tom and Anna, who had worked alongside him for many years and joined him from Design Shoes when the shop closed. 

Many customers considered a visit to Antonio Pacelli an important part of their Irish dance journey.

The shop attracted visitors from across the UK, Europe and further afield. In many countries, specialist Irish dance products were difficult to find and local competitions were relatively limited.

For some overseas dancers, a trip to Antonio Pacelli became a highlight of a holiday to London.

It was not unusual for dancers to arrive with an empty suitcase and leave with it full.

The shelves were packed with shoes, wigs, socks, accessories and products many dancers had only ever seen online.

For young dancers, it often felt like stepping into a sweet shop.

The shop was also designed to celebrate the history and culture of Irish dancing. Working alongside a respected Irish dance historian, Dr John Cullinane, Ally helped create displays featuring rare photographs, memorabilia and artefacts from Irish dancing's past.

Visitors climbing the staircase to the first-floor shop passed a gallery of historic Irish dance photographs, providing a glimpse into the rich history and traditions behind the activity they loved.

For many dancers, a visit to Antonio Pacelli was about more than simply buying shoes. It was an opportunity to immerse themselves in the wider world of Irish dancing.

Hullachan And Innovation

Innovation has always remained at the heart of Antonio Pacelli.

For many years, the company had been one of the major distributors of Hullachan products.

Having worked closely with Hullachan for many years, Antonio Pacelli was the natural home for the brand when Hullachan Pro founder Craig Coussins decided to retire.

The acquisition allowed Hullachan Pro to continue while giving Craig the opportunity to remain involved doing what he enjoyed most.

Craig Coussins joined the Antonio Pacelli design team when Antonio Pacelli bought Hullachan.

A gifted designer with a deep understanding of Irish dance footwear, Craig became an important part of the Antonio Pacelli design team.

His influence can still be seen in products including the H3 and Hullachan Hugs, along with other developments introduced over the years.

Today

In 2025, Antonio Pacelli moved into a modern warehouse and office facility not far from its previous home.

While the move marked the end of the dedicated retail shop that so many dancers remembered fondly, it allowed the company to continue investing in the future.

Today, Antonio Pacelli serves dancers, teachers, schools and retailers all over the world. 

Over four decades, the company has had the privilege of serving multiple generations of Irish dance families. Former dancers now return as parents, introducing their own children to the activity they once loved themselves.

The business has changed enormously since the days of a small cupboard behind a North London shoe shop.

The products have evolved. The company has moved premises many times. The internet has transformed the way dancers shop. New generations of dancers have come and gone.

Yet the values remain much the same as they were in 1985.

Forty years after Tom first began experimenting with Irish dance shoes in his garage, Antonio Pacelli remains a family business built on the same values that inspired those first prototypes: a belief that products can always be improved, customers deserve honest advice and success comes from caring about what you do.

From the cupboard behind Design Shoes to serving Irish dancers around the world, it has been an incredible journey — one that would not have been possible without the support of generations of dancers, parents, teachers, retailers and friends who have been part of the story along the way.