Scarpa was founded in 1939 by Rupert Edward Cecil Lee Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh, an Anglo-Irish businessman. You may recognise this name as the man who founded of Guinness Brewing Company and the Guinness Book of Records. This guy had his finger in many pies. Although the brand name sounds like a clever rugged word it is actually an acronym for ‘Calzaturieri Asolani Riuniti Pedemontana Anonima’, which translates to the ‘Association of Footwear Manufacturers from the mountain area of Asolo’, which is not quite as catchy -  I can see why he shortened it.