At the start of the 21st century, shopping online was still a futuristic fantasy. And then, in the spring of 2000, Federico Marchetti invented one of the world’s first platforms for online sales, launching a company that would revolutionize the luxury fashion sector. In “The Geek of Chic: An American Dream, Italian Style,” Marchetti tells the tale of an awkward kid from the seaside town of Ravenna, Italy, who transformed himself into a pioneer in online retail. He’ll be sharing that story at a Sept. 17 book signing at the Book Cellar in Chicago.

“Federico has made it alone, imagining much and working more,” Giorgio Armani writes in the forward to “The Geek of Chic.” “Those who want to break the mold have to take risks, swim against the tide, walk untrodden paths.”