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Since opening their luxury leather goods boutique in the early nineties, Tamara Smith and Max Azar have become very familiar with the needs of their clientele. For their Upper East Side customers that means high-end handbags made exclusively in Italy. With this in mind, Smith and Azar handpick merchandise from designers such as Gianni Chiarini and Cosci during frequent trips to Florence from which they return with but one of every design. Along with imported purses and totes, ornate jewelry, and innumerable colors of pashminas, the owners also sell their own lines of bags made, naturally enough, in Florence: MaxTamara mimics the luxury look of the boutique’s high-dollar imports. Need a strap reattached or a belt re-studded? Leather repairs account for a large part of Pelle Via Roma’s business. They’ll also gladly take requests for only-in-Italy goods before they travel overseas. — Kate Jacobs