Annabella
The Origin
The house of Annabella was established in the year 1957 by Giuliano Ravizza. The famous Furrier set the company in Pavia, in the south of Italy.
He often said “My father was a tailor. I owe to his work with needle and thread the opportunity to start my career from a solid base. Just before the last war, he sensed that the era of made-to-measure clothing was almost over. And so, he made the big leap. First a shop of ready-made clothes, then two. By 1950 he had five, all of them in Pavia. In 1960 he became ill and I was forced to leave the medical field. But I didn’t want to follow his exact footsteps. The idea of furs, of a single, large store, began here, along with the intent to demythologize the mink coat, reducing prices and transforming the myth of fur into a consumer good almost as common as a dishwasher.”
Thanks to an agreement with Angelo Rizzoli Sr., the store was called Annabella, after one of his successful women’s magazines.
Brand Development
Thanks to Founder Giuliano Ravizza’s intuition on the importance of marketing, the Annabella brand shot straight to stardom on the international scene, with fashion shows at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the design of “Misha”, the mink mascot of the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games and the presentation of a collection in the presence of Mrs. Breznev. The brand was an ambassador for Italian fashion at the United States bicentennial celebrations at the White House, and countless celebrities and testimonials went on to make Annabella famous throughout the world.
Over the years, and thanks to the second generation represented today by Riccardo, Ruggero and Simonetta Ravizza, the Annabella brand has stayed at the cutting edge of fashion both in terms of brand image and product. Always a benchmark for the Italian fur industry, with innovative collections, the use of colours and state-of-the-art craftsmanship that characterize “Annabella Pavia” garments, a skillful mix of tradition, luxury and technology for a discerning audience, ever alert to the latest trends. The opening of the new Flagship Store symbolizes today’s desire to look to the future, as passionate as ever about the new challenges this project brings.
Ravizza was the first to make the revolutionary decision to publish the price of furs in the newspapers and to produce long- and short-format TV commercials, entrusting them to the famous director.
Furs and Environment
The Pellicceria Annabella company uses only the skins that are purchased at auctions and in the international markets and that are declared marketable by the Washington Convention. Since 1973 the Washington Convention, in fact, has been protecting and regulating the trade of flora and fauna species that are threatened of extinction. Its aim is to preserve them and to ensure an eco-friendly use. Today, 174 countries adhere to this convention.
Famous Celebrities in Annabella
The legendary 70’s and 80’s Top Model Verushka was the first celebrity to endorse the brand, followed by the film director Franco Zeffirelli who made a TV commercial for Annabella starring Jerry Hall, after which it was the turn of Alain Delon with a young Monica Bellucci, and once again Sophia Loren linked her image to the brand that went on to become an icon of Italian fur, through the lens of fashion photographer Gianpaolo Barbieri.
Current Situation
After the death of Giuliano Ravizza, the company was managed by his three children, Simonetta, Ruggero, and Riccardo, who increased the turnover. The main premises are in Pavia, with 14 shop-windows in a store of 20,000 square feet. A shop named Simonetta Ravizza was opened in Milan on via Montenapoleone.
The company closed 2016 with a turnover of over 8 million euros.
2018 saw the opening of a newly renovated Annabella in new premises in Piazza Minerva. Still in the centre of Pavia, but now in a more convenient area, and based upon an entirely new, modernized concept to suit new generation of customers, staying true to the traditional values and history of the maison, presenting them updated, contemporary key.