ROME - Living in Italy, the country of the "bella figura", it would take the single-mindedness of a saint to remain completely oblivious to how one looks.

Pope John Paul II, who wore the same plain vestments and nondescript Polish-made shoes for years, was such a saint. But his successor, Benedict XVI, is on a very different wavelength.

Since the first days of his papacy one year ago, his style sense has been bowling Vatican-watchers over: brand name caps and sporty jackets, expensive sunglasses, elegant shoes. Now makers of everything from luxury cars to loafers are climbing over each other to obtain his discreet endorsement.

Any pope is among the most famous and most closely observed people on the planet. What has given the luxury goods world a shot in the arm is the discovery that Pope Benedict, unlike his predecessor, has a keen eye for the fine things in life.

Branding PR firm Interbrand said this week that associating a product with the Pope was at least 100 times more effective than an A-list celebrity, because his following is more devoted.

Italian shoemaker Geox said it sends il Papa six pairs of its maroon-coloured leather moccasins a year. "We are not seeking publicity," the firm said. "We will not exploit any image of the Pope wearing our shoes, [we're] just paying homage to him."

Geox's founder, Moretti Polegato, is a close friend of the Pope's press spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

But how the other brands favoured by Benedict arrived is anybody's guess - and as the Vatican takes pains to unstitch logos and obscure the provenance of the things he uses, a lot of guessing is involved. Vatican-watchers convinced themselves from the Pope's first steps that he was wearing red Prada loafers. Prada has chosen to be as gnomic as the Vatican - or perhaps it just doesn't know.

The sunglasses question on the other hand has been definitively resolved. Vatican hacks insisted for months the Pope was wearing Gucci. Closer inspection, however, revealed his favoured brand is in fact Serengeti, the model called Classics. "The classic appeal of the open road is only one of your options," burbles the accompanying copy on its website, possibly alluding to the Pope's relative disinterest in globe-trotting. "No matter where impulses take you, Serengeti Classics improve the view."

Benedict has broken the taboo on wearing sunglasses outside the papal grounds, and was photographed sporting his Serengetis on the way to his audience with Italian head of state, President Carlo Ciampi, last June.

He has also been snapped wearing an adidas baseball cap, has received 20 pairs of swimming trunks from the Roman company Fallani, and is the proud owner of a pencil-thin iPod nano, given to him by Vatican Radio on the station's 75th birthday.

All these companies take the same solemn line of Geox: no comment, no photos, no publicity. Yet the message takes effect regardless.