Menichetti
Roberto (1966). Italian designer, born in Buffalo, America, but brought up in Gubbio, where he lived and worked in the family firm producing the most exclusive garments for the collections of Jil Sander and Helmut Lang. He was taken on as Claude Montana’s assistant in 1990 and three years later moved to Jil Sander. The German designer appointed him as creative director of the womenswear lines and project manager of the men’s line. In 1998, the young Umbrian designer was assigned the task of relaunching the Burberry brand and developing the global style of the English company. Burberry is now controlled by Great Universal Stores (GUS), a large Anglo-Saxon chain that had a turnover of about 3.4 billion pounds in 1998. The first step was Burberry’s Prorsum: a fashionable line produced in Gubbio and presented with success in July 1999 in Florence at the 52nd Pitti Uomo.
&Quad;2001. Menichetti left the artistic guidance of Burberry’s Prorsum in the hands of the English Christopher Bailey.
&Quad;2002. Menichetti’s first collection for Cerruti arrived on the runways. Although he had already ceded 100% of the firm to Fin.part, Nino Cerruti expressed a positive opinion of the young designer. But in March, after only one season, the association came to an end.
&Quad;The family firm was to produce Menichetti’s first personal collection. His menswear line was presented at Milano Moda Uomo in January 2004, a month before his womenswear. Both collections were completed with a series of accessories.
&Quad;2004, October. He debuted in Paris as the creative head of Cèline. Menichetti took over the artistic director of the historic French fashion house from the American Michael Kors.
&Quad;2005, May. After only two seasons, the collaboration between Menichetti and Cèline came to an end. The decision was mutual and Menichetti continues to design his own collections.