Pollini

Shoemakers based in San Mauro Pascoli (Forlì), founded in 1953 by Vittorio, Alberto, Lucia, and Lidia Pollini following in the tradition of their father Ettore. In the 1970s they launched a new concept of boot: they took a professional riding boot without fastenings and with minimal stitching, then modified it for city wear. In 1998 Pollini launched their own collection of men’s and women’s leatherwear.
&Quad;At the end of 2000 Pollini joined the Aeffe Group, controlled by Alberta and Massimo Ferretti. The parent company planned a restyle of the Pollini brand in order to relaunch it on the market within a year.
&Quad;2001. Pollini’s new collection of casual clothing consisted of about 60 women’s pieces and 40 men’s pieces, which were conceived by Massimo Ferretti as Aeffe’s luxury sportswear range. They were made from the highest quality fabrics with a distinctive cut, and distributed in a hundred or so shops throughout Europe and the USA.
&Quad;2002. Pollini represented 18% of the Aeffe Group’s income with a turnover of 50.6 million euros, an increase of 4% compared to the previous management.
&Quad;2003, March. Pollini pushed open the doors to the Far Eastern market, signing a three year export deal with the Japanese Itochu Corporation: the Pollini and Pollini Studio lines of men’s and women’s footwear and leather goods and ready-to-wear have been distributed from Fall-Winter 2003-2004. A five-year agreement was signed with Fairton Strategy Limited to distribute Pollini in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China.
&Quad;2003. The Turkish designer Rifat Ozbek took up the artistic direction of Pollini’s line of women’s clothing.