Moschino is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1983 by Franco Moschino. Known as the enfant terrible of fashion due to its unconventional ways.
Franco Moschino (1950-1994) was an iconoclastic designer who never wanted to be known as such. He arrived at the top by overturning all the rules: of good taste, style, advertising, presentations, and runway shows. The industry called Moschino the enfant terrible of Italian fashion, which means a person who behaves in an unconventional or controversial way.
Franco Moschino
Franco Moschino studied Fine Arts at the Accademia di Brera in Milan. He planned to be a painter, but his role as an illustrator for Versace in 1971 set him on the fashion road. In 1977 he was fashion designer for the historic Italian label Cadette, where he honed his skills and developed his own precise stylistic language.
Moschino Style
Stop the Fashion System Collection
In 1983 he started his own label, with an explosive mix of paradoxes, challenges, and elegance which criticized and mocked the excesses of the fashion system and the paroxysmal society which was the image of the 1980s. The company founded by Franco Moschino, Moonshadow S.r.l., debuted with its first collection, which was ironic, surreal, ingenious, perverse, and totally represented Moschino’s style. Ironically, his style declared “stop the fashion system,” but its success was because of that system. A theorist of freedom and improvisation, he claimed not to be an inventor, but a “restaurant trying to provide those well-cooked traditional dishes which were invented by unknown cooks.”
Fall/Winter 1988 Campaign
His work did indeed revisit all the aesthetics of the century, adopting and reworking them with a hybrid injection of humor. He replaced the buttons of Chanel-style suits with windmills, and embroidered black sheath dresses with their price. He made skirts out of ties, jackets with fried eggs on the pockets, T-shirts emblazoned “Moschifo” (schifo means “disgusting” in Italian), dressed printed with the words “no dress no stress,” tops with trompe-l’oeil breasts.
Patches Blazer 1990
He continued to break the rules with multiple sleeve shirts, multicolored blazers, waistcoats printed with cartoons, suits with appliquéd symbols of geese, Andalusian skirts made out of tartan, and toreador-style evening jackets. His personal style, despite being unpredictable and striking, was in fact based on classic, well-made shapes, perfectly cut and with seductive details which proved attractive to all markets.
Cheap & Chic
1987 Fashion Show
The first line to be launched was Moschino Couture, and soon after came Cheap & Chic in 1980, Donna and Uomo in 1986, Moschino Jeans, lingerie, swimwear, bags, scarves, jewelry, perfume, all of which broke with fashion clichés. Publications, advertisements, and runway shows were similarly full of surprises. He would send pairs of knickers to actresses instead of invitations, he made his models go down the runway on their knees, he appeared in his own adverts in disguise, and created a fake Cardinal to promote his range of jeans.
Cheap & Chic Fragrance
Moschino created a scent for men with a two-headed bottle, and his women’s fragrance was provided with a drinking straw. He published Dadaist catalogues and created every kind of provocative entertainment imaginable, saying
“There is no creativity without chaos. The Moschino concept is based on complete freedom of choice. There are no rules. You wear whatever color you want, and if you still like what you were wearing last year, you can wear it this year, and next year if you want.”
All of this of course rang a strange note in a period where prêt-à-porter ruled, and labels dictated fashion.
The Exhibition: Enfant Terrible
1999 AD Campaign
In 1993 the show Ten Years of Chaos was released at the Permanente di Milano. It was a journey through thousands of Moschino’s creative anomalies, culminated in an exhibition of paintings where the designer revealed to the public for the first time his original persona, that of a painter. The exhibition was held at the end of 10 years of the life and work of this enfant terrible of Italian fashion, who in this short period had left an indelible mark on the world which he so wanted to challenge, becoming himself a cult figure, and obtaining cult status for his clothes.
Moschino Acquired by Ferretti Group
Moschino passed away on September 1994 from AIDs. His staff, under the leadership of his closest collaborator, Rossella Jardini, have continued his work and succeeded in the miracle of consolidating the success of the brand. In 1995, the city of Florence granted Franco Moschino the Pitti Immagine Award. Later, in June 1999, for the first collection of Moschino Life, presented a new version of the famous “survival jacket”, designed in 1991. Later in Fall, the brand was taken over by the Ferretti Group. In the following years, many exhibitions took place, always praising Franco and his professional life. In March 2001 the brand presented a chronological collection of images of the windows designed by the charismatic “monellaccio” (rascal). Two years later, during summer, some paintings that Franco Moschino made in 1989 were exhibited for the first time in Rome.
Collections
In 2002 the brand released the memorable “On the road” men’s collection, combining vintage pieces with sports and formalwear. This was a paradoxical look, covering every possibility, and contradicted everything with which we were familiar. The collection was ingeniously invented; the disorder was delightful. The same approach was taken for the womenswear collections in the cheeky 2003-2004 fall/winter show, which saw a complete mechanic’s overall decorated with frills, and a necklace made out of a metal spring-catch.
Fall/Winter 2003 Collection
Prêt-à-jouer will always be the way for Moschino. The range continues to produce the thousand anomalies which continue, as in the past, to turn some items into genuine status symbols. Irony and unbridled fantasy go hand-in-hand, particularly in the Cheap & Chic diffusion line. One style, many styles, for those with more enthusiasm than money. Fashion as the art of putting an outfit together in total freedom. Blazers with no buttons which fasten with a safety-pin, or sprinkles of sequins on patched pants.
Brand Development
Later in May the company entered a joint venture with Bluebell Far East (49.9%), Moschino (50.1%) created Moschino Far East, to aid distribution in the Far Eastern market, including Japan. Sales of €70 million were envisaged by 2006. This is an agreement that seals the long collaboration between these two businesses: Bluebell has been distributor for Moschino in the East since 1989, apart from in Japan, where distribution has been managed until now by Sanki Shoji.
2001 Spring/Summer Campaign
Then in July, they signed a licensing contract with Sector to produce a collection of watches under the name of Moschino. The Sector Group, with 15 production partners worldwide, had 150 employees and sales of around €90 million in 2001. It was responsible for around 14% of watchmaking in Italy.
In 2002 the label celebrated its 20th birthday. The first Parisian store (with seven windows) was opened at 32 Rue de Grenelle, in the 7th arrondissement, and a shop was opened in central Moscow, in the Petrovsky Passage Mall. The Moschino brand has a distribution network of 24 dedicated stores, and 31 franchises in department stores. Shares in Moschino Spa are held 70% by Aeffe and 30% by Sportswear International, and in 2001 sales equaled €285 million.
Watches
In July 2003 they launched a store in the Rome full of the new Moschino watches, the heart-shaped “Time 4 love” and “Time 4 Peace.” Each has charms representing symbols of peace, love, a lucky horn, and the initial “M” of the late designer. “I love 4 ways” has a linked chain, inspired by old pocket watches. “I love Moschino” has a leather strap, and “My name is Moschino” a traditional metal strap.
Moschino Watches
A year later, Vincent Darré, head of creation and development of the Moschino collection from 2001 to 2004 left the label to become artistic director at Emanuel Ungaro.
Official Partners
In 2007, under the leadership of Thierry Andreatta (CEO from 2007 to 2009), Moschino opened a new boutique in New Dehli, India, where it first expanded in 2005. In May, the first headquarters in Eastern Europe was opened in Lithuania.
In 2007 important agreements were concluded with several partners. Including Scienward International Holdings Limited for the franchise and distribution in China, Allison for creating and distributing Moschino’s eyewear, Binda Group for the manufacture and marketing of watches and jewelry. In 2008 the teen and baby collections were launched too.
The same year, in collaboration with Independent Ideas, Lapo Elkan’s communications agency, Moschino presented Love Moschino collection, a new face for the twenty-year Moschino Jeans collection. The strategy was to renew it, making it more appealing for new generations.
In March 2008, the new fragrance Hippy Fizz was launched in the market, produced and distributed by Euroitalia. Then, in September, the boutique of New York was opened. Also, in 2009 stores were opened in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Shanghai. Then a year later in Vietnam. At this point, Moschino’s expansion now reached every corner of the world.
Spring/Summer 2010 Collection
The original interest of Franco Moschino towards modernity has remained at the center of the company. In 2010, under the supervision of Rossella Jardini, in collaboration with Jo Ann Tan, Maison Moschino was inaugurated in Milan, now NH Milano Palazzo Moscova. Moschino represents a fairytale world where fashion is a means to celebrate the values and the joy of living.
Supporting Charity
Active in the social, Moschino signed numerous collaborations to help children and associations. In 2007, Moschino supported Amref by selling some of its design on Yoox. In the same year, Unicef asked the brand to make a plexi doll for fundraising for the prevention and care of children with HIV. The following year, in collaboration with the Isetan Shinjuku Department Store in Tokyo, Moschino presented a series of mini dresses from the spring/summer 2008 collection, whose proceeds were donated to the Red Cross of Tokyo to support children.
Jeremy Scott
Jeremy Scott Creative Director of Moschino
In 2014 the brand started to relaunch, with the appointment of the new creative director, Jeremy Scott. Scott was born in 1974 in Missouri, USA, and studied at the Pratt Institute in New York. In 1990 he launched his own line with a fashion show in Paris. Scott’s brand has a very sophisticated pop style, using very bright colors, lettering, symbols and icons taken revisited from the eighties and nineties. The sporty style helped the designer to forge several partnerships with activewear brands as Adidas.
The company appointed Scott after Rossella Jardini, former Moschino creative director, presented her last collection collection for the Italian fashion house during Milan Fashion Week. Jeremy Scott has been noted in recent years also for a very direct communication on social networks, where he posted accessories and extravagant clothes. Also, his friendship with international pop stars like Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry, who began to wear his clothes at concerts and public appearances, thus increased his fame.
Jeremy Scott With Celebrities Wearing Moschino Collection
In February 2014 the first collection by Jeremy Scott was presented, inspired by some American icons, including McDonald’s. Someone criticized the choice, others appreciated. Another novelty is the elimination of Cheap & Chic line and the birth of the “Boutique Moschino” line. The brand announced that the “Moschino Boutique” line targets a wider market and that prices will be about 40% lower than the main line.
Jeremy Scott Collection for Moschino 2014
The first positive results of the new course of Moschino contributed to Aeffe sales results, which acquired the brand in 1999. There were in fact revenues of €251.5 million, an increase of 0.2% compared to last year. Also, the sale of the Spring/Summer 2015 collections has increased by 15% from a year earlier. Then, in 2015 Jeremy Scott wins the “Womenswear Designer of the Year”.
At the same year, Moschino and Barbie teamed up for a partnership, produced a Moschino Barbie doll and 8 pieces Moschino ready-to-wear collection. Then, during 2016 spring summer fashion week, Moschino launched a new capsule collection called “Clothed For Construction.” This capsule collection is also designed by Jeremy Scott and only available on online.
Barbie Spring/Summer 2015 Collection
Current Situation
In July 2017 Moschino launched a limited makeup collection by collaborating with Sephora. This collaboration bring out the best combination of beauty products and luxe accessories. The brand’s signature playfulness together with Sephora’s high quality beauty products served both bold Moschino women and everyone else.
Jil Sander is a minimalist German fashion designer and the founder of the Jil Sander fashion house. Her style is intelligent, minimalist, and contemporary.
German fashion designer and entrepreneur, Jil Sander, was born in 1943 in Wesselburen, near Hamburg. Jil is methodical and creative, reserved and determined, fragile and energetic. She has built an empire in just a few years that was quoted on the stock market in 1989. With a diploma in textile engineering from Germany, she went to Los Angeles at age 19, where she completed her studies and had her first experience as a journalist in the editorial office of McCalls. Returning to Hamburg, she became fashion editor for Costanze and Petra and took on management responsibilities. As a freelance designer, she worked with a number of firms, among them, Callaghan.
Jil Sander Style
Jil Sander Minimalist Style
The most important representative of German fashion and one of the biggest names in international fashion, she has succeeded in creating a style that is intelligent, minimalist, and decidedly contemporary. “Strong and pure” are the adjectives that are often used to describe her designs. Considered the German Armani, her clothes are characterized by her use of neutral colors, purified lines, and full-bodied materials. Also, her cuts “made by the knife”, as she herself describes them, to create a femininity deprived of any frivolity, but not without a certain seductive austerity.
First Boutique
Picture of Jil Sander in front of her Hamburg boutique 1968. Photographed By: Hans Rudolf Uthoff
In 1968 she opened an avantgarde boutique in Hamburg, the first of its type, where she sold clothes that she designed alongside garments bought in Paris and Italy. Strengthened by this experience and with an ambitious project in mind, she opened Jil Sander Moden and presented her first real collection in 1973, with all her pieces in varying tones of khaki. She had a difficult start as a fashion designer wanting to create top quality modern clothes, but of too great an elegance to be produced in Germany, where luxury ready-to-wear was still unheard of. It was only natural that she found the necessary materials, firms, and people in Italy.
In 1975 she was in Paris where she presented two collections in successive seasons. Too purist for French taste, her runway shows were a flop. As a result, she was forced to move to Milan, a city which is more austere and therefore more in tune with her own personality.
Spring/Summer 1977 Campaign Featuring Stella Tennant. Photographed By David Sims
The first Italian presentations were quite affairs reserved for just a few people, but the important buyers took note and were soon fighting for an exclusive deal over her work. Her designs for intelligent, independent, business-like women were very popular:
“The women who I think about when I am designing are very self-aware and full of self-respect,” she says.
Success came quickly and the purity of her designs, her constant research into materials, and her obsession with quality were all prized. In 1979 she launched Woman Pure, her first perfume, with an advertising campaign built around her own serene, fair and delicate features, ensuring herself instantaneous fame and creating a new stereotype for German women.
Women Pure Perfume 1980 Campaign
Her international reputation was confirmed in the following years as her business activities developed and moved into cosmetics, eyewear, leatherwear, and menswear that she showed in Milan in 1996. She has received numerous awards and prizes for her fashions and perfumes. With a passionate interest in contemporary art, she is a discerning collector and a generous sponsor of exhibitions of leading German artists such as Georg Baselitz and Joseph Beuys.
Jil Sander Acquired By Prada Group
From Fall 1999, the Jil Sander label was part of the Prada Group. For 2001 the brand establish a record sales, with a 17% rise in profits. Unfortunately, in 2002 the brand lost 26 million euros, in part of the costs of adding retail stores in London and New York. The number of own-brand shops throughout the world rose to 20.
By May 2003 the Prada group thinks of saving the destiny of the company by calling back Jil Sander as head of the creative team. Bertelli “approached Ms. Sander and began negotiating a truce”. Rehired under a six-year consulting contract with an undisclosed stake in the company. Jil Sander returned to the company she founded, which had been controlled by the Prada Group since 1999.
Raf Simons
Raf Simons for Jil Sander Spring 2007 Advertisement
However in July 2005, the creative director Belgian designer, Raf Simons took over Jil Sander after the umpteenth split with the Prada group, Simons will come to the brand to give it a particular international touch, much less rigid, by means of patterns and colours, new shapes and details.
In 2006 Prada declares it has sold it shares to Change Capital that is a specialist private equity firm founded by Luc Vandevelde, focus on consumer related businesses. Then, two years later in September 2008, Change Capital sold Jil sander to Onward Holding Co., Ltd, A Tokyo-listed apparel group and its European subsidiary, GIBO’ Co. S.p.A for a equity value of €167 million.
Uniqlo J+
Jil Sander For Uniqlo J+ 2011 Fall/Winter
In 2009, Sander announced the creation of her own fashion consultancy having Uniqlo as their first client, where she overseeing the design for womenswear and menswear collection called J+. The line was launched throughout Asia including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China and on 7 January 2010 in the London stores. It is to be launched in Uniqlo’s sole US store in New York city on 14 January 2010.
Navy Collection
Jessica Burley Featured in Fall/Winter 2015 Campaign
In 2010 Sander decides to expand the brand and launch a new collection line called Jil Sander Navy, establishing a new branch for the a younger customers, completing the aesthetic world of the Jil Sander brand and its design philosophy of pure, essential and innovative luxury. This brand extension add a sophisticated casual and dynamic attitude to the house. A focus on innovative quality cotton, techno fabrics, jerseys and knitwear.
Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2012 Collection. Designed by Raf Simons
After Raf Simons presented the Fall 2012 collection, he announced his departure from the Milan based company welcoming Rodolfo Paglialunga, who will arrive to give an Italian detailed accuracy to brand. A year later, in October 2013, 69 years old Jil Sander left her label for the third time. She presented her last spring/summer 2014 collection during Milan fashion Week.
The Spring/Summer 2015 Ready-to-Wear collection, designed by Rodolfo Paglialunga, according to Vogue Tim Blanks it was a “coalescence of genders. There were fit issues throughout. Clunk was probably the best word for the drop-crotch culottes with the out-of-reach pockets. Same with the apron/skirt wrapped over whatever was underneath it, meaning that there was odd bunching when what was underneath had an elasticized waistband.”
Current Situation
Jil Sander Resort 2018
After almost four years Pagilalunga, creative director, announces his retirement from the brand in March 2017. In April 2017, Lucie and Luke Meier, a husband and wife duo who have designed everywhere from Dior Haute Couture to Supreme, are named the new creative directors of the brand. The designers possess an intimate connection and a deep understanding. Their first collection is Resort 2018, which is a steady solid start for the duo. The collection was full of their aesthetics including elegance and purity made for fast paced city living.
“They hold a vision that is modern, cohesive, and in touch with what is relevant now, and they beautifully combine it with a subtle sensibility. I expect the creation of very clever collections and a world to be inspired by,” said Jil Sander CEO Alessandra Bettari.
Diesel is an Italian retail clothing company that sells denim, clothing, footwear, and accessories. Two different brands: Diesel and Diesel Black Gold.
Diesel was established in 1978 by Renzo Rosso together with other textile entrepreneurs in the Veneto. He chose this name because it is easy to understand and is pronounced the same around the world. At that time, Diesel was also considered as an alternative energy and so the word stood as a synonym to alternative taste in fashion. In 1985 Renzo Russo acquired full control of Diesel.
In 1991 Diesel launched its first advertising campaign called For Successful Living. The campaign did phenomenally and established a reputation for innovative marketing. Then, in 1995 the brand launched its own website, it was amongst the very first fashion companies to do so. Later, in 1996, the brand opened its first few flagship stores in New York, Rome and London.
Successful Living Campaign 1991
In 2000 Diesel acquired Staff International, an Italian manufacturer and distributor of Maison Margiela, Marni Men, Dsquared2, Just Cavalli and Vivienne Westwood. Two years later Renzo Rosso became a majority shareholder of Maison Martin Margiela. In July 2000 Diesel Iberia, the 12th foreign subsidiary, expands further in the Spanish market. In Barcelona, it opens a new showroom with offices in Plaza de Cataloea. In Spain there are 350 single-brand boutiques and 12 more are expected within 2004. The turnover in Spain is equivalent to 17.6 billion liras. Later, Renzo Rosso, number one and president of the group, announces that Diesel’s global turnover for the year is expected to be 700 billion liras.
Creative Director: Kosta Murkudis
In September Kosta Murkudis, a young Greek designer, is appointed creative director of New York Industrie, the casual clothing line produced by Diesel International. In addition to creating the men’s and women’s collections, the designer will supervise the advertising campaign. He appears on the cover of W, the monthly of Women’s Wear Daily, an honor that fell to Tom Ford in July.
Diesel Kids Collection
Diesel receives the Made in Italy award, a prestigious American prize within the fashion industry in January 2001. The company intends to expand further in the U.S. It was reported sales increased by one-third over the previous year. Also, by 2004, somewhere between 10 to 35 new shops are expected. At Pitti Bimboin June 2002, the company presents Diesel Kids, a celebration of denim. Every imaginable kind of denim is presented, with infinite variation, from stonewashed to torn and color-sprayed models.
Supporting Young Talent
“Its One” Winner Daniele Controversio 2002
In July 2002 the company is a sponsor and partner of the Trieste agency Eve, which has conceived and organized the first presentation of an award for young creative designers, called It’s One (International Talent Support), which is to be followed each year by It’s Two, It’s Three, etc. Wilbert Das, the creative director of Diesel, has worked with Victor Bellaish on the selection of 33 finalists from all over the world. The award, won by Einav Zucker, consists of €13,000 with which the winner can start his own atelier and create a new Collection for the following year’s competition. The Diesel Award, for €2,500, which went to Daniele Controversio, offers the opportunity to produce and distribute in the best Diesel shops a mini-Collection of 5 pieces labeled with the name of the young designer.
OTB Group Acquires Maison Margiela
In 2002 Renzo Russo founds the OTB group which became the parent company of fashion brands Diesel, Maison Margiela, and companies Staff International, specialized in ready-to-wear production and distribution. OTB group acquires the maison Martin Margiela. This Belgian designer, who went to school in Antwerp, already an assistant to Jean-Paul Gaultier, works for Hermés, but since 1988 has also had his own maison in Paris. But he needed a strong partner to help him develop further, and he found one in Italy, in the person of Renzo Rosso. The head of Diesel intends to promote a five-year development strategy for the brand.
Diesel StyleLab Runway 2001
In September 2002 DieselStyleLab, the men and women’s avant-guard line, chooses New York for the first time and returns to the runways of the Bryant Park Pavilion after several years away, for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. The line was launched in 1998 but, after having presented in London (September 1998, October 1999) and Paris (October 1999), it undergoes a period of static presentations during Milan’s Fashion Week.
Forbes magazine lists Diesel among the 32 top luxury brands. The return to the formula of runway presentations and the choice of New York also indicate a strategic change and particular interest in the American market. The Collection is often inspired by the aesthetic-cultural contrast between East and West, as in the typical black leather jacket manufactured in a Japanese fabric with kimono-shaped sleeves.
Financial Information
Back in 2001, Diesel’s U.S. turnover hit $93 million, an increase of 43%. By October 2002 the company receives “high profits with double-digit growth in sales, an increase of 10% over the €365 million of 2001, which had already increased 38.8%.” This is the Diesel group forecast for 2002, as declared by Renzo Rosso at the Milan Fashion Global Summit. The group plans a thorough review of the points-of-sale, in which the single-brand shops, of which there are 180, including 95 company-owned, are to be favored over the multi-brands.
In June 2003 Daniele Controversio, winner of the Diesel Award 2002 in Trieste, joins the creative staff of DieselStyleLab. Also, the women’s shoe Collection by Diesel receives a prize at the Sportswear International Fashion Awards (SIFAS). Diesel shoes are manufactured under license by Global Brand Marketing Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif., which sells its products in more than 130 countries. It owns the Pony and Dry-shod brands and is a licensee for Nautica, Mecca, and Xoxo shoes.
In September 2003 Australia is Diesel’s new target market. The first store opens in Sydney. Another one is to open soon in Melbourne. In December The turnover is reported €780 million, of which 85% comes from abroad. The gross operating margin of 22%, with a net profit of €74.8 million, almost hits 10%. The cash flow is €120 million. Renzo Rosso’s motto;
“Fashion companies must be directed by their managers. Real industrial managers must lead their companies and make every single area more professional. That’s what I did.” As to decentralization, he maintains that “some production cannot continue here: it is the price market’s rule. If you go too far away, you won’t survive. The important thing is that the brains stay in Italy.”
Diesel Marketing Strategy
The brand portrays itself as someone who questions current trends, while allowing their own taste to lead them. The message communicated is usually a mix of irony, black comedy and tongue-in-cheek humor that garners both praise and backlash. This combination of rebellious image with the classic 1950’s American culture has introduced some of the most timeless pieces, such as, biker style, leather jacket and the denim.
“We think to be cool is better than to be big”, said Rosso. It is really time for the brand to become cool and fresh again and so the current rebooting strategy of Diesel is not about change; it’s about going back to the origins. The interest of the brand lies in culture, music and people. The challenge lies in breaking down people’s existing perceptions of Diesel, instead make them feel extraordinary.
The cohesive collection of Diesel sets itself apart from the rest by introducing an ‘alternative taste in fashion’. Their main power lies in the transformation of the year old working class look into luxury. They thrive on breaking the societal stereotypes through its gender“less” style statement that provides an individualistic voice to its audience.
Diesel’s reboot of the entire brand is about elevating the quality and revamping the product, both within and beyond denim. It’s about bringing fresh air and modernity to the collections. The biggest change is in ladies’ apparel, an innovative mix of leather with a feminine touch. The brand is challenging its own knowledge to bring a full-blown collection that is appropriate for the advanced contemporary market.
Through 2004 the company’s communications strategy continues. A new advertising campaign has also been promoted. “There are 30 acid, dreamy, daily trips, the so-called day dreams,” explains Antonella Rossi, the marketing director. “They are the dreams of each one of the 30 protagonists who present the pieces of our Collection; but then, in the video, these dreams shift towards rather uneasy, ironic, atmospheres.” Irony, innovation, unpredictability, creativity, desecration: these are the strong elements of Diesel’s communication.
Spring/Summer 2004 Campaign
Then, in October Renzo Rosso sells two thirds of his Only The Brave Srl shares, the family holding which controls the Diesel group, to his oldest sons, Andrea and Stefano. “They asked me to teach them how to manage a company: I’m happy because I have always feared that one day they may prefer to stay out of the family business.”
By December, Diesel, the owner of Margiela, intends to double the turnover of the Belgian maison in the next five years (the present turnover is about €30 million). Excellent competitive and economic-financial results for the group. The turnover is €1,004.2 million (€909 million from the Diesel brand), up 27.5% over the €788 million of 2003. The pre-tax results are excellent: €204 million, against €128.8 million in 2003, with a net profit of €112.2 million, an increase of 50% compared to the €74.8 million of 2003. The net borrowing has gone down, from €167.5 million to €48.8 million. At December 31st 2004, the group had 173 directly managed stores, of which 21 opened in 2004, while the workforce increased from 2,561 in 2003 to 3,348 in 2004.
In recent years, Diesel has reorganized its market strategy, positioning the brand in a premium segment, investing in research and quality, reorganizing the distribution structure, and reducing the world-wide points-of-sale from 10,000 to 5,000. Also excellent are the results for Dsquared, a brand acquired in 2001. The Martin Margiela brand has also grown consistently.
In 2005 the conquest of the Spanish market continues. After the opening of a first store in Barcelona in 2002, there are openings in Bilbao, Madrid, and Valencia, and a second one in Barcelona. Also, in May a new store opens in Hong Kong.
In 2007 Diesel signed a partnership with L’Oréal’s luxury product division to launch the first line of fragrances, which is called ‘Fuel for Life’. More collaborations were done the following year with Fiat and Adidas.
Diesel Black and Gold
Diesel Black and Gold 2015 Campaign
A new premium sophisticated clothing collection, Diesel Black Gold, was launched in early 2008 at the New York fashion week. In the same year Diesel launched its home and textile collection. And later the OTB group acquired Victor & Rolf. Greek designer Sophia Kokosalaki started to play primary role in the collection from FW 2010, her first debut as Diesel Black Gold female designer was in New York on February 2010.
In 2010, the companies most controversial campaign “Be Stupid” won a Grand Prix in the Outdoor Lions category at Cannes but was banned in the U.K. by the Advertising Standards Authority. Same year, a deal was signed with the Italian Ducati team of MotoGP. Diesel created its presence by creating race suits and clothing for the Ducati team.
“Be Stupid” Campaign 2010
OTB Group Acquires Marni
In 2013 Nicola Formichetti was appointed as the new Artistic director of Diesel, and later in 2014, he unveiled his first fall/winter collection in Venice. Meanwhile the OTB group, parent company of Diesel, bought 61% stake in Italian brand Marni, and in November 2015, OTB acquired the totality of Marni.
Diesel Campaign 2015
2016 marks brand’s 30 years of presence in Japan. To celebrate the brand held an exhibition with Diesel’s key denim look from 1978 to now, furthermore, brand launched three collaboration collections exclusively distributed in Japan.
Current Situation
Diesel X Naomi Campbell Child At Heart
In April of 2017, Diesel has revealed its charitable collaboration with supermodel Naomi Campbell in aid of her Fashion For Relief initiative, called Child At Heart. This project featured colourful love hearts and ladybird designs created by children attending the Diesel HQ kindergarten in Italy.
The company is currently in the mindset to reboot the brand with the mission to recapture the hip factor that made it great in the 1990s. Currently, OTB is the parent company of Diesel. Along with Maison Margiela, Marni, Paula Cademartori, Viktor & Rolf, and Brave Kid, specialized in childrenswear production and distribution. Also, Staff International, manufacturer and distributor of DSquared², Just Cavalli, Maison Margiela, Marni and Vivienne Westwood.
From Mario Prada’s gallery shop to today’s world-class Miuccia luxury made-to-order Italian fashion group. Read the story and anecdotes of the Prada brand.
The origins of Prada begin in 1913 when Mario Prada, Milanese luxury craftsman, opened a shop at Galleria Vittorio II in Milan.
Prada is innovative in the field of travel goods, accessories, and luxury goods. The branded uses refined materials, high quality craftsmanship and state of the art design for its products. The brand has quickly become a point of reference for leather accessories and items precious from all over the world.
Thanks to the quality of its creations, Prada meets the demand of the most demanding, experienced clients of the international market, and of high society. In 1919 Mario became an official supplier of the Real Casa d’Italia, obtaining the right to include the coat of arms and the Sabaudi knots in his own brand. (Source: “Prada”, edition 2009, Prada Arte project).
On the other hand, Mario Prada ideas made it clear, his goal was to:
“Collapse the shortage of objects that participated in the adventure of stylism, but with detachment; They were fashionable, and unable to go fashionable in the course of a season.”
Miuccia: The Rebellious and Ingenious
Portrait of Miuccia Prada
Mario’s granddaughter, Miuccia Prada, is an ex-jury of the good bourgeoisie, a sixty-year-old passionate about theater and mime, enrolled at the Small Theater School and the Udi (Union of Italian Women) of the Communist Party.
In 1978 Miucca became part of the family business. Together with her partner and husband, Patrizio Bertelli, they transformed the brand into a world-class luxury goods Made in Italy business. After Miucca took over, the brand begins to compete with Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, Gucci.
The company becomes highly industrial, and at the end of 1997 Prada can rely on:
8 establishments with 1184 direct employees;
119 single-store shops, of which 94 are directly controlled;
A total turnover of 1,147,202 billion lire.
The stages of this ascent to the top of international fashion are marked by Miuccia’s creative intuitions and Patrizio Bertelli’s clever business strategies and communication.
The Eighties: Nylon and American Success
Prada Nylon Shopping Bag 1978 By: Albert Watson
In the early 1980s, Nylon handbags arrived in a patented material, Pocono, originally used for military parachutes. Bags are identified by the iconic logo: an inverted metal triangle inspired by the closure of Mario Prada’s trunks, which soon become objects of worship. In 1979 the first shoe collection was launched.
In 1983 he opened the first Green Store in Milan, designed by architect Roberto Baciocchi. It is characterized by a particular shade of light green that will soon be recognized worldwide as Green Prada. From this moment on, Prada opens a network of Green Stores all over the world, the color remaining so unique. (Source: “Prada“, edition 2009, Prada Arte project).
In 1988 the big jump in women’s clothing took place. The decade of the most spectacular hedonism and consumerism of the century. Opposed to “minimalism”, Prada’s fashion is actually the conceptual elaboration and aesthetic disorder of our time, but without any abstraction.
The return to Milan
Prada is Miucca, a bourgeois and schismatic girl who has become a character, with her stage in New York. She turns naked legs even at 10 degrees below zero, wears woolen socks with sandals, and wears a second-long chiffon skirt over rough tweed, which invented her wind-jacketed jackets.
Only after becoming a “case” in the United States and the Anglo-Saxon press, the Prada-Bertelli reported collections on the Milanese catwalks. The Italian journalists who, before the American trip, left empty whole files of the fashion shows in Melzi d’Eril , are left outside the door of the new Via Maffei.
There is a scandal in print, with accusations of censorship. But, the name Prada becomes popular far beyond the fashion world. Also, because the couple follows the common passion for contemporary art, and become collectors to patrons.
The Nineties: The Foundation and the Big Acquisitions
1993: Prada Foundation was founded, followed by the first exhibitions: Eliseo Mattiacci and Nino Franchina. In the same year the Men’s line and Miu Miu, the independent brand created specifically for Miuccia, were created.
1995: The Prada Foundation, a Milan art space, hosts artists such as Anish Kapoor, Michael Heizer, Louise Bourgeois, Dan Flavin, Laurie Anderson, Sam Taylor Wood, Mariko Mori.
1997: Patricia Bertelli, a sailor expert, decides to sponsor and take part in the 2000 America’s Cup in New Zealand.
The choice is to support the new line Prada Sport, a research laboratory for new materials, forms, and behaviors.
June 1998: Prada becomes an important shareholder of Gucci, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. However, in January 1999, with 34.4% of Gucci by the French group, LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy), Prada surrenders its shares to Bernard Arnault. In six months the brand achieved a surplus of 192 billion Lire to invest in the increasingly international brand development.
In the following years:
The purchase of the majority of Helmut Lang;
Participation in De Rigo (glasses);
A minority stake in Church’s, English shoes;
Then the big hit, the purchase of Jil Sander (75 percent of ordinary shares and 15 of those listed on the Stock Exchange);
Finally the winning public offering of the Church’s majority and the alliance with Bernard Arnault and his Lunch for the holding of the Fendi brand. It is the end of August 1999.
The Epicenter Project.
In 1999, the brand inaugurated a unique project in collaboration with AMO, the think-tank of Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and the architect Rem Koolhaas. Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli entrust AMO with the task of analyzing world shopping trends, conceptualizing new products and applying their findings to new types of stores. Thus, the project of three Epicenter projects, designed outside the type of Green Store, is designed to become a true experimental laboratory.
Strong with an identity that transcends the simple brand, the company continues to affirm its originality in new and unexpected ways. He is among the first to collaborate with visionary architects such as Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron, winners of the prestigious Pritzker Prize. The Epicenter of New York, Tokyo and Los Angeles, so different from the classic concept of the store, are the result of A careful analysis of the dynamics of the market in contemporary society and of revolutionary architectural innovation. In these boutiques are exposed luxury goods that are the result of extraordinary technology and design, alongside a multitude of exclusive activities and events. (Source: “Prada”, edition 2009, Prada Arte project)
From 2000 to 2005
A New Venue for Collections
At the beginning of the year, the company is recognized by Interbrand among the 100 most important brands in the world. Starting in 2000, Prada presents its collections in Fogazzaro Street, Milan, in a former industrial establishment. The building, renovated for this purpose, is constantly being reconfigured, giving rise to new architectural environments. In order to enhance the concept of collections, in fact, unique movies, videos and sound settings are projected. (Source: “Prada“, 2009 edition, Prada Arte project)
A joint venture with LVMH, called Lvp Holding Bv, is formed in July for the acquisition of 51% of Fendi’s ordinary shares. In October, the acquisition of 100% of Azzedine Alaia’s shares will take place. The Eyewear and Beauty collections debut.
The 2000 Budget
Consolidated sales grew 56.6% compared to 1999. Gross margin increased by 49.8%. Net income was down 184 billion lire (-42.7%). However, the 1999 figure is influenced by the gain on the sale of Gucci shares to the LVMH, net of which the profits would be 134 billion.
The debt remains high, but it is not due to financial mismanagement, but from the many acquisitions carried out in 1999 and 2000: Church’s, Helmut Lang, Jil Sander, Fendi (joint venture with LVMH) and Azzedine Alaia. Significant ratio of net debt to net equity improved in 2000, thanks to Prada Holding’s capital increase of €260 million.
The budget of the Jil Sander House, which accounts for 10% of total turnover, showed a turnover of €134.8 million. The markets with the largest competitive presence is Germany and American. In Italy, the brand is present in Milan, with a showroom in Piazza Castello.
Acquisitions of 2001.
February: Acquisition of 70% Santacroce.
April: Acquisition of 51% of the company Car Shoe, a brand created and patented in 1962 by the Lombard artisan Gianni Mostile, shoe manufacturer for motorcycle enthusiasts. The value of the operation was not known.
July: Acquisition of 70% of Genny, a Marche company led by Donatella Girombelli. Rumors add up to $100 billion to $120 billion in sales, a figure that must be taken out of the high debt.
November: Agreement with LVMH for the sale of 50% of the Prada Group’s holding in Lvp Holding BV (holding Fendi’s shares owned by LVMH and Prada) for a value of €295 million. Prada and LVMH had purchased 51% of Fendi in 1999, paying $425 million. The figure serves to lower the indebtedness of the Italian Group.
The Epicenter of New York
After three years of research, Prada opens the first Epicenter in New York, at Broadway’s Guggenheim Museum SoHo. Rem Koolhaas and OMA create a scenic spectacular design of a wooden wave linking the ground floor to the bottom. With suspended and motorized hanger cages that move along a network of ceiling mounted rails, and a real stage that Gets out of the wave to host special events. The project has an immediate success and remains one of the most prominent contemporary Prada stores worldwide.
2001 Epicenter of New York
One of the most important features of the New York Center is the northern wall that extends for a whole block, reaching the length of sixty meters. From the earliest designs, OMA conceived the wall as a kind of canvas on which to apply temporary wallpaper. Prada and New York Design Studio 2 × 4 have created different wallpaper to produce ever-newer content. Almost at the same time as the opening of the New York Center, Prada started designing the second Epicenter, located in Tokyo, with the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. (Source: “Prada”, 2009 edition, Prada Arte project)
The long-awaited listing on the Milan Stock Exchange is postponed due to the unfavorable time. The multiple acquisitions made in recent years have exacerbated the debtor situation of the Group, which, in order to face it, is considering issuing. It paves the €700 million bond in favor of Prada. The demand from investors was five times higher than the availability. The €700 million will be used: 300 for capital increase and 400 for repayment of debts.
Financial situation in 2002
March: Debut in Moscow, in the central Tretyakov Passage, the first single-member in Russia. Group Partner is Mercury Distribution.
June: A joint venture was established with the Puig group for the creation and distribution of perfumes and cosmetics marked by the Prada brand. With the purchase of the remaining 25% of Jil Sander, Prada has total control of the German brand.
August:. The remaining 24.29% of Genny Spa is found. The Genny and Byblos brands, to which Ozium is added, are present in the high-end prêt-à-porter and in other product lines including leather goods, glasses, and perfumes through contracts License.
September: Fabio Zambernardi is the design director of the Prada and Miu Miu brands for clothing, footwear, and accessories lines. The limited edition GTS Chrono-Automatic IWC for Prada watch is launched.
Prada and Miu Miu’s direct sales outlets total 160. Group revenues amounted to €1.57 billion. The business volume has maintained a balanced geographical distribution: 26% Italy, 25% rest of Europe, 23% North America and 26% Japan and Asia-Pacific area. Historical brands Prada and Miu Miu contributed 83% of total revenues. Consolidated net income is €27 million.
Prada points to Japan: The Epicenter of Tokyo
March: An agreement was reached for the distribution of Prada glasses with the company Avante-Garde Optics (Luxottica Group) in the USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Bertelli announces Group plans for the year. Investments will fall from €130 million in 2002 to €100 million, and will be channeled mainly in the relaunch of younger brands.
Debut a new flagship store in the Ginza district of Tokyo. The third in the Land of the Levant. For the occasion, Prada has produced a Limited Edition Series (2000 copies) exclusively for the Japanese market.
The new Epicenter Prada debuted in Tokyo, designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron. The six-story building, located in the Aoyama district, is one of the city’s most recognizable architectural works. The green glass façade protrudes from a diagonal grid that forms the structure, while it houses commercial areas, lounges and spaces for events. (Source: “Prada”, edition 2009, Prada Arte project).
2003 Debut of Prada Epicenter in Tokyo
July: A ten-year license agreement with Luxottica Group, a world leader in the optical industry, for the production and distribution of sunglasses and watches with the brands Prada and Miu Miu, begins. The deal contemplates the acquisition by Luxottica of the 100% production and distribution companies of the Prada Group, for a total value of €26.5 million.
The Epicenter of Los Angeles
In 2004, it opens the flagship store of Hong Kong. Miuccia receives New York’s International Award from Cfda.
After the success of the New York Center, OMA plans a new space on the historic Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. In some respects, the new project is the reverse of New York: a wave rises from the road level, rises to the second floor and goes down again. The facade is made up of a single aluminum plate. Many of the inner walls are made up of a special resin sponge that gives an unusual ‘porous’ appearance to the spaces. (Source: “Prada”, 2009 edition, Prada Arte project)
2004 Debut of Prada Center in Los Angeles
In the same year, the brand expanded its activities by sponsoring Luna Rossa, a sailboat participating in the America’s Cup, and the consequent introduction of the ad hoc technical clothing line the following year.
In April, an agreement was reached with Aedes. This will give rise to Real Estate International, which acquires Prada Group real estate assets for an estimated value of about €100 million and with a capital gain of €30 million of Prada.
Meanwhile, Helmut Lang’s acquisition is completed. The brand headquarters in New York are moved to Milan, while opting for the suspension of Genny’s clothing line, acquired three years earlier.
Departures and the Launch of the First Perfume
In 2005, Simonetta Ciampi was appointed design director for bags and accessories. In the following period, the Prada Group became lighter. With the sale of Helmut Lang, Jil Sander (2006) and Azzedine Alaïa, which returned to 100% in the hands of the Franco-Tunisian designer, while investors entered Banca Intesa, a 5% stake. This involves the incorporation of the Lamos shoe factory and in conjunction with the announcement of the start of the auction.
Also in 2005, for launching the first female fragrance, Miuccia Prada invites filmmaker Ridley Scott, and her daughter Jordan, to collaborate on the production of a short film. To represent the complexity of the feminine essence, Jordan chooses an ancient 1st-century poem entitled “Thunder Perfect Mind”, which illustrates the countless facets of the female psyche. “Thunder Perfect Mind” is shot by father and daughter in Berlin, and has Daria Werbowy, protagonist of the different female roles of wife, virgin, mother, daughter, and lover. (Source: “Prada”, 2009 edition, Prada Arte project)
From 2005 to 2010
Short Film’s
In March 2007, Prada launched Prada Phone by LG, the first fully mobile touch screen phone. More than a million pieces sold in 18 months of presence on the market. The process of asset optimization gives its fruit: Prada S.p.A. Closes 2007 with record profit of €127 million, up 65.8% over the previous year.
Trembled Blossoms
At the beginning of 2008, during the New York Fashion Week, Trembled Blossoms is presented. In line with Prada’s creative process, Tremclothing, bags, and packaging. The Trembled Blossoms movie is presentedbled Blossoms is born out of contradictory ideas. The interweaving of Miuccia Prada’s many inspirations, ranging from Art Nouveau to Hieronymus Bosch’s paintings, are perfectly restored by surreal designs by artist James Jean, which stimulate the creation of wallpaper, animated shorts, printed fabrics, at the New York Center in the fall of 2007, accompanied by a live performance by the Coco Rosie group, which made up the soundtrack of the film.
The film is subsequently screened during a series of exclusive events in the Epicenter of Los Angeles and Tokyo. (Source: “Prada”, edition 2009, Prada Arte project).
Fallen Shadows
An animated short film, entitled Fallen Shadows and directed by James Lima. Inspired by the collection by Steven Maisel in the campaign with Linda Evangelista, features an innovative technique of overlapping digital and traditional images: a hand-painted backdrop makes the background a new generation animation created entirely on the computer. (Source: “Prada”, edition 2009, Prada Arte project).
Prada and Contemporary Art
The Waist Down Show
The Layout of the Waist Down exhibition
Among the projects for art, Waist Down, is an itinerant exhibition that collects and exhibits the most original and significant models of skirts created by Prada from 1988 to today. The show is conceived by Prada and AMO as a modified event from time to time based on the exhibition space intended to accommodate it. The inauguration of the exhibition takes place in 2004 at the Tokyo Interstate, the second location is the famous Peace Hotel in Shanghai.
In 2006, Waist Down moved to New York City Center in SoHo to continue at the Los Angeles Downtown in Beverly Hills and finish with the inaugural installation of the Prada Transformer in Seoul. Each evolution interprets and conforms to the different exhibition spaces, mixing activities and features of the event with the culture of the host city. With Tokyo in 2004, Shanghai in 2005, New York and Los Angeles in 2006, and Seoul in 2009. (Source: “Prada”, edition 2009, Prada Arte project).
The Waist Down show
Prada Transformer
Subsequently, the Prada Transformer project is an installation housed for six months next to the historic Gyeonghigung Palace in downtown Seoul, capital of South Korea. It will combine several disciplines within a single building, gathering the various facets of Prada while respecting its autonomy and uniqueness.
Designed by Prada, in collaboration with architect Rem Koolhaas, tetrahedron has been conceived to host four events dedicated to art, cinema, fashion, and the world of culture. Each event has a distinct planimetry: hexagonal, rectangular, cruciform, and circular. Compared to any typical exhibition space that suits everything, the Transformer literally overturns, adapting its appearance to the features of each event.
The Prada Transformer Project in South Korea
In recognition of the cultural value of this cutting-edge project, the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano wanted to include the Transformer on his state trip to Korea. This is the only case in the history of the Republic, where a private building is included in the program of the official visit of the Head of State.
The America’s Cup
“Luna Rossa” the Prada Catamaran
The Prada Group’s horizons transcend the boundaries of fashion: art, architecture, cinema, culture. Also, major challenges such as the America’s Cup are an integral part of the core values of the brand. Passionate and competent sailor, in 1997 Patrizio Bertelli launched an Italian challenge to America’s Cup, the most important sailing international competition. The ‘Red Moon’ boat wins the Louis Vuitton Cup, the Challenger selections for the 2000 America’s Cup, thus winning the right to challenge the New Zealand defender, which will then be defeated in a fierce final. But ‘Luna Rossa’ will remain a national phenomenon, an icon that has written one of the most important pages in the history of Italian sports. Never before had a sailing event been so followed in Italy.
Fondazione Prada
Prada Foundation Milan Across Isarco 2
A few months later, the new Prada Foundation in Milan, curated by Rem Koolhaas, opens to the public in May 2015. An area of 17,500 square meters in an industrial complex of the early twentieth century. In the field of art and culture, the Foundation is considered a true reference world-wide. The attention and interest of Miuccia and Maurizio Bertelli for the contemporary art world lead to the decision to open a space where presenting exhibitions realized in full collaboration with Italian and international artists.
“Prada Foundation is an initiative that aims to receive and retransmit the deepest mental provocations of the art of our time.” Miuccia Prada.
Over the years, the Prada Foundation has explored several research subjects, opening up to issues related to areas such as architecture, philosophy, science, design, and cinema.
From 2011 to Today
Fondazione Prada in Venice
Starting June 2, 2011, the Foundation opened a new exhibition space Ca ‘Corner della Regina”. A prestigious eighteenth-century building overlooking the Grand Canal in Venice, after an important conservation restoration intervention. This impressive historic building, which was made available by the Venice Civic Museum Foundation for 6-12 years, has inaugurated a complex and articulated exhibition that reflects the multifaceted activity of the Foundation.
Prada Foundation in “Corner of the Queen in Venice”
As of June 24, 2011, the Group placed 20% of its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, recording an initial valorization of the company at €9.2 billion, with the offer covered 3.5 times the available shares.
The “24 Hour Museum” Project
Prada “24 Hour Museum” Project
In 2012, Prada launches the “24 Hour Museum” project, conceived by Francesco Vezzoli, in collaboration with Rem Koolhaas’s AMO study. The installation for the “24 Hour Museum” has proposed three distinct moments, each inspired by a particular type of museum space: historical, contemporary, and forgotten. In the three areas, Francesco Vezzoli has imagined a “museum that is not there.” Where he exhibited his homage to the eternal feminine, and the interpretation of classical sculptures that allude a contemporary feel.
In the tradition of collaboration with artists and multiple approaches to the creative process, Prada intervenes to create a new project of linguistic and visual experimentation. The whole exhibition lasts 24 hours, a stage for a great party Baroque.
The Exhibition “Impossible Conversations”
Also in 2012, the Costume Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, hosts the exhibition Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations. From May 10 to August 19, 2012 (preceded on May 7 by the Gala Benefit Event), the exhibition explored the unexpected affinities between the two Italian stylists belonging to different epochs.
Taking inspiration from Miguel Covarrubias’s “Interview impossible” for Vanity Fair in the 1930s, curators Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton gave rise to unreal conversations between these two women. Suggesting, new keys to reading their innovative work.
Elsa Schiaparelli’s and Miuccia Prada’s icons are presented in galleries. Along with 8 videos that simulate a series of conversations between the two stylists directed by Baz Luhrmann to illustrate how in their work they have explored similar themes through very different approaches.
Prada for “The Great Gatsby”
Catherine Martin and Miuccia Prada for The Great Gatsby
In 2013, Miuccia Prada collaborated with costume designer, Catherine Martin, to create a collection of over 40 exclusive evening cocktail dresses by Miu Miu and Prada for “The Great Gatsby” by Baz Luhrmann. A special show of selected costumes was exhibited at the New York Center from May 1 to May 12, then moved to the Tokyo Expo Center from June 14 to June 30, and finally moved to the IFC Mall in Shanghai from 11 to 21 September 2013.
The show, “Catherine Martin and Miuccia Prada Dress Gatsby”, combines evening dresses, hats, footwear, and jewelry with sketches, scene photos, backstage footage, and movie trailer. Also, mannequins wore the looks of each character accompanied by video from both the film and behind the scenes. Curated by New York’s 2 × 4 studio, the show was designed to change at each stage in order to reflect the unique features of each city that hosted it.
The Prada Gallery and Journal Projects
In 2013 Prada acquires an entire sky-earth portion of a property in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II overlooking the Ottagono and overlooking the historic store dedicated to female collections.
The project “The new Prada Gallery” is being developed in several phases. The first one sees the opening in 2013 of the new Prada Man shop on the ground floor of the palace. The spaces are entirely restored according to the aesthetic and architectural apts of the historic store of 1913.
The next phases of the project include the opening of a dining area on the mezzanine floor and the opening of exhibition spaces devoted to the Prada Foundation.
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II After Restoration
Also, in 2013 is the launch of Prada Journal, a literary competition in collaboration with Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore and Luxottica. The literary competition also arises from the curiosity of exploring innovative languages through forms of expression that converge on the written word, creating an independent platform of interest and an unusual editorial search reserve. Prada Journal had two more editions in 2014 and 2015.
Two New Short Film’s
A Theraphy
In 2013, Prada presents Cannes’s short film “A Theraphy”, written and directed by Roman Polanski, starring Ben Kingsley and Helena Bonham Carter. The author of The Pianist and Carnage has imagined a somewhat weird psychoanalytic sitting where Tim Burton’s wife interprets a rich and bored lady, gripped, while Kingsley is her analyst.
Cavalcanti Castle
In 2014 another film collaboration: an 8-minute short film directed by critically acclaimed American director, Wes Anderson. Cavalcanti Castle is perfectly located in Anderson’s authoritative universe, only this time in Italy. It’s September 1955, and Jason Schwartzman just went to slam with his racing car against a statue of Jesus. The result is a popular story about cases of fate in a typical ‘Andersonian’ style.
Close to its first centenary, is a holding company employing more than 7800 employees and distributing its products through a network of 353 stores in more than 70 countries.
Acquisitions of 2014
In March, Prada SpA announces the acquisition of 80% of Angelo Marchesi Srl, owner of the Milanese pastry factory founded in 1824. The same year is the acquisition of the historic tannery Mégisserie Hervy at Isle, near Limoges. The acquisition was carried out jointly with Conceria Superior SpA of Santa Croce, a long-time industrial partner of the Prada Group. The aim of the operation is to ensure the recovery and revival of a productive structure which is an example of excellence in the tannin tradition of lamb skins and in particular of “plongé” tassels, with the aim of preserving its precious craft know-how.
Pradasphere
Pradasphere in Hong Kong
Also in 2014, the launch of the Pradasphere project, an exhibition dedicated to the Prada brand and curated by the 2 × 4 studio in New York. The first edition is hosted by Harrods in London for a month. The exhibition follows the multifaceted obsession of the brand through fashion, art, architecture, cinema, sports and more, forty showcases, a pop-up store, video installations, and the elegant Marchesi pastry shop. The second edition of Pradasphere took place in Hong Kong, in a space specially created for the occasion.
Marchesi Pastries
After the acquisition of Angelo Marchesi Srl, in September 2015 Pasticceria Marchesi presents at the space, via Monte Napoleone 9. This is the first place after the opening of the historic Milanese coffee. Marchesi Monte Napoleone remains faithful to its style and its impeccable quality, offering a wider range of products. Designed by architect Roberto Baciocchi, the new shop extends over an area of 120 square meters and the interiors reinterpret the atmosphere and charm of Via Santa Maria at Porta 11 / a.
Marchesi Pastry Shop on via Monte Napoleone 9
Within a year, Pasticceria Marchesi opened a third shop in the heart of Milan, within the emblematic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a symbol of the city. At the new space, located on the mezzanine floor of the building that houses Prada Man. You can access via stairs or elevators from both Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and the Prada store. The new Marchesi space is spread over an area of 250 square meters and reinterprets the atmosphere and fascination of the historic shop of Via Santa Maria alla Porta. Located in a charming setting marked by numerous arch windows, overlooking the beautiful frescoes and precious floors to the mosaic of the Gallery.
The Restoration of the Last Supper by Giorgio Vasari
The Last Supper by Giorgio Vasari
On November 4, 2016, Giorgio Vasari’s restored the masterpiece in Santa Croce, fifty years after the Flood. Thanks to the commitment of Opificio delle Pietre Dure and the contribution of Prada, Getty Foundation, and Civil Protection. The ceremony takes place in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella and Patrizio Bertelli, Managing Director of the Prada Group, Irene Sanesi, President of the Opera of Santa Croce, Marco Ciatti, Director of the Dure Stone Store, and Antoine Wilmering, Getty Foundation Senior Program Officer.
Giorgio Vasari’s Last Supper, which water and mud swept through this museum’s hall on November 4, 1966, has been preserved for decades in a Superintendency depot along with many other flooded works. After fifty years, thanks to new technologies, the restoration and the painting have been relocated to the Cenacolo. Thanks to the new technology, the Structure of Pietre Dure and the support of Prada, Getty Foundation and Civil Protection to make this possible. The Return of the Last Supper to Santa Croce is a virtuous example of patronage that has seen together in more than ten years. Thanks to Prada, who made it possible to intervene on the painting, the Getty Foundation for wooden support, and Civil Protection who allowed studies and surveys.
The Past Forward Project
Past Forward is a multi-platform film project born in 2016 by the collaboration between Miuccia Prada and US director and screenwriter, David O. Russell. Acclaimed for films such as American Hustle, The Fighter, and The Positive Side. Russell has imagined Past Forward as a dreamy, surreal, and silent landscape with an eclectic cast that re-plays scenes in variable combinations. The result is an unreliable story, a parallax view in which scenes, characters, costumes, genres, and even multiple endings, repeat and turn away. Rejecting the logic of conventional fiction. Russell represents his characters as elements of a complex collage, leaving the spectator the task of decoding what experience, memory, dream, and understanding overlap and differences between them.
Prada Opens Observatory
Prada Foundation Opens Observatory
In December 2016, the Prada Foundation opens Osservatorio, a new exhibition space dedicated to photography and visual languages. Located at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. Observatory is a place of exploration and investigation of the trends and expressions of contemporary photography. The constant evolution of the medium and its connections with other creative disciplines and realities. In a historical moment, in which photography is an integral part of the global digital communication flow, the Prada Foundation, through Osservatorio’s activities, questions the cultural and social implications of current photographic production and its reception. It extends the repertoire of modes and tools with which the Foundation interprets and relies on the present.
Located on the fifth and sixth floor of one of the central buildings, the Osservatorio is above the octagonal, at the level of the glass and iron dome covering the Gallery created by Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1867. The environments, rebuilt in After World War II following the bombings that struck the center of Milan in 1943, they underwent a restoration that made available an 800 m2 exhibition space developed on two levels.
The Shaping Conference at Creative Future
In March 2017, the Prada Group presented to Milan “Shaping to Creative Future”, a conference organized in collaboration with the Yale School of Management and the Politecnico of Milan School of Management. The event explored new possible connections between sustainability and innovation. This led to a confrontation between entrepreneurship, culture, and the international academic world. During the first day, at the Prada Foundation, teachers from both universities met with representatives of companies and associations to work out a critical perspective that was the focus of discussion on the next day. The following day, at Prada’s headquarters, entrepreneurial personalities, and spokespersons of international organizations met at a plenary conference, enriching the debate with inspirational insights and personal experiences.
Missoni is a luxury Italian fashion house known for their colorful knitwear. The company was founded by couple, Ottavio (“Tai”) and Rosita Missoni, in 1953. Read more to discover the couple built a multi-million dollar luxury business.
The company was founded by Ottavio (Tai) Missoni (1921) and his wife Rosita Jelmini (1931) in 1953, also the year they got married. They met in London during the 1948 Olympics. Ottavio was the Italian 400-meter running champion in 1938, world student champion in Vienna, and a finalist in the 400 meter hurdles. He also had a small firm in Trieste that produced tracksuits. The tiny Rosita, was young, but determined, and came with fashion experience gained. She gained this experience from her family’s firm, which produced shawls and linens for the home. The couple began with a small workshop in the basement of their home in Gallarate.
Ottavio and Rosita on the day of their Wedding April 18, 1953
Their first client was the Biki boutique in Milan and then, in 1958, La Rinascente. Anna Piaggi was the first person to cite them in the press (Arianna, 1965), which also gave them their first cover in 1967. The first runway show, a collaboration with Emmanuelle Khanh, came in 1966. In 1967, they debuted at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, with a preview of the nude look. In 1969, they built the factory at Sumirago, with their house attached. Although, it was still a house and workshop, their success was by then worldwide. In 1970, Bloomingdale’s opened a Missoni corner in their New York headquarters.
Missoni Nude Look Runway Show at Palazzo Pitti in 1969
Missoni Style
The same year marked the invention of the “put-together” look, a free casual mixture and juxtaposition of stitches and designs. This became the distinctive feature of the Missoni style. Also, mixed with patchwork, colored stripes, and the black-and-white and rainbow “flame motif.” These were followed by Greek key motifs, grids, Scottish checks, folklore designs, and especially abstract African designs.
Fabrics Displayed at MISSION ART COLOUR Exhibition
Materials included knitwear, furs, felts, tweeds, and elasticized fabrics. The variable thickness, textures, technical inventions, and color combinations of the yearn link to abstract and informal art. Decorative elements were taken from Anglo-Saxon applied art, a careful evolution of forms, and above all freedom and joyful creativity. These are the elements that have turned Missoni into a way of life, and their garments loved objects. All their garments are flattering in shape, color, and substance.
Recognitions
Womens Wear Daily listed them among their top 20 Fashion Powers, and Vogue America among the top 10 European designers with the greatest influence on international clothing trends. In 1972, The New York Times wrote:
“Missoni makes the best knitwear in the world and, according to some people, the most beautiful fashions in the world.”
In 1973, Missoni was awarded the Neiman Marcus Award. It was the first in a long series of recognitions: The Tony Award in 1976; the Premio Italia in 1986; and the Pitti Immagine in 1994. Rosita received the International Design Award in New York; Ottavio was made a Cavaliere del Lavoro in 1993, received the Pitti Immagine award in 1994, followed by the Honorary Royal Designer for Industry honor in 1997 in London. Towards the mid-1970s, they added furnishing fabrics and household linen to their collections of knitwear, accessories and jewelry. Ottavio began to display his tapestries in art galleries, first in Venice and then throughout the rest of the world.
Ottavio Missoni Portrait in Office
In 1976, the first boutique was opened in Milan: 5 more followed in Italy, 2 in Paris, 3 in Germany, 3 in Japan, another 5 in the Far East, and 1 in New York.
Missoni in the Arts
Ottavio, who always wears a sweater, is listed among the ten most elegant men in the world. Also, a flower and a star were named after Rosita. They were a highly viewed couple in the fashion world.
25 years of their work was celebrated, in 1978, at the Rotanda della Besana in Milan, with a retrospective that moved to the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York two years later. In 1994, in Florence and later in Milan, the Missoni world was described in the exhibition, Missonologia. In 1995, Gallarate celebrated with the exhibition, The Ottavio and Rosita Story. In 1996, there were two exhibitions in Japan: at the Sazon Museum of Art and at the Nagoya City Museum. Missoni creations feature in the permanent collections of the MoMA in New York, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Museum of Costume in Bath. The Missoni pair have also designed costumes for the opera (Lucia di Lammermoor at La Scala in Milan, 1983) and for ballet (David Parsons Dance Company, 1994).
Sketch 1 for the Opera Lucia di Lammermoor di Donizetti
Sketch 2 for the Opera Lucia di Lammermoor di Donizetti
Sketch 3 for the Opera Lucia di Lammermoor di Donizetti
The Next Generation
In 1997, the first all-fabric collection was created, produced and distributed by Staff International. In 1998, Missoni M was presented for men and women, in collaboration with the Marzotto Group. In the same year, the Missoni company acquired a new headquarters, a 6-storey building in Via Durini, Milan. Rosita and Tai moved there with their children, to whom they passed on the firm in 1997, at the peak of a series of new successes, feted by the press and consumers for their exemplary faithfulness to their own style.
Family Portrait
Angela (1958) became art director, responsible for style; Vittorio (1954) commercial director; and Luca (1954) technical director. Nine grandchildren make up the Missoni tribe, guaranteeing the future of the firm. And so the tradition continues, with strong family connotations and an artistic-artisanal character, which, despite its vast expansion and international success, has made the name of Missoni so loved, and not just in the worlds of fashion and culture.
In 2000 Luca Missoni presented his first menswear collection for winter 2001-2002. Knitwear is reinterpreted with superimposed graphics, stripes, zigzags that look like brushstrokes, and flame motifs. It was the fruit of continual research into textiles, stitches, weaves, and patterns that has always been a part of the history of Missoni and of fashion itself. The collection played on the contrast between dry, plain fabrics, and soft silks and luminous knits. For Spring-Summer 2002, faded colors, pierced cotton piquet, very light cashmeres.
Brand Expansion
Later, in December of 2001, the Missoni Sport shoe collection would officially be produced and distributed by Big Time. The license is worth more than €13 million. As for the rest of the production, Missoni announced,
“We will not create any more licenses. From 2002, we will produce and distribute the Missoni Sport line ourselves.”
Powerful investments were made in a 2,500 square-meter space near Samirago, dedicated entirely to the Sport line. The shops and corner spaces were also restructured. Within the brand, the search for new types of fabric and knitting techniques continued. The white, beige, and gray flame motif remained popular.
Popular Missoni Fabrics
In January 2003, after approximately 20 years of collaboration with Seibu, the company changed its Japanese distributor for its primary line. It signed a five-year distribution agreement with Kashiyama Onward, one of the largest textile industrials. Japan represents a market worth roughly €15 million and 25% of the brand’s business. The Missoni company closed 2002 with a turnover of about €130 million, which about €62 millions were made from its primary line. Also, new for 2003, celebrations for the company’s fiftieth anniversary, marked by two exhibitions, one in Milan and the other in Tokyo. Also, the opening of a new 70 square-meter boutique inside Harrods in London.
In April 2003 the new showroom was opened in Via Solferino in Milan. The building was an umbrella factory in the late nineteenth century, it is situated at the end of a courtyard in the historic center. Vittorio Missoni explained that the location is perfect, not just to present the different lines but also for shows, exhibitions, and other types of event. The former-factory belonged to distant relatives of Rosita’s grandparents.
Missoni Celebrates 50 Years
In May 2003 Missoni celebrated 50 years in business with a large runway show in the Town Hall square in Vienna, for the opening of the 11th Life Ball, a traditional charity evening held to raise funds to combat HIV/Aids. Later, in June the menswear collection, which represents roughly a third of the company’s turnover, was relaunched, focusing primarily on the development of accessories. In 2002, Missoni made €51 million on direct sales, compared to €48 millions the previous year. Exports (main markets Japan, USA, and Germany) accounted for more than 85% of the entire business. Alongside multi-brand stores, the company owns 12 directly controlled own-brand boutiques and about one hundred franchises.
Missoni Celebrates 50 Years
In June 2003 at Milano Moda Uomo, Luca Missoni presented his collection: knitwear with a thousand colors mixed together, tight, micro polo necks in cotton crêpes printed with lozenges, sweaters in viscose and tulle. Including, cardigans with large, ostentatious zigzags, very light vests in linen thread, in a small net weave, or interspersed with lurex threads, transparent tops that simulate tattoos, and sweater-shirts in silk and lamé for evening wear.
In July 2003 fashion and design for the Japanese car Mazda, the sponsor of the AltaRoma runway shows. After the series of MX-5 sports cars, with exclusive interiors in numbered series, Missoni created the colors and interiors of the latest MX-5, made as a one-off and sold in an online auction to raise funds for AISM (Italian Multiple Sclerosis Association). The fashion house celebrated its first half century.
Through November 2003, the celebrations continued and new Spring-Summer 2004 collection was presented in Tokyo, at the Yoyogi National Stadium. In addition, Tai and Rosita displayed more than a hundred outfits from the retrospective held in Milan the previous month, including the very famous blue tracksuit marked “Italia,” by Ottavio for the national athletics team in 1948, and the first gold Lurex suit from a far-off 1958. Japan, which represents a fifth of the company’s turnover, loves the Italian style and the event attracted 3,000 people.
Recent Years
January 2004, a contract was signed with Pagnossin, the head of the Richard Ginori 1735 group. It created the license for a line of tableware and household objects designed by Rosita, part of the Missoni Home project. Later, in April the third Golden Dame Award is held at the Poldi Pezzoli museum in Milan. “The people who make Milan great” include Ottavio and Rosita Missoni. The license for the production and distribution of the spectacles and sunglasses lines was agreed with Silvio Vecellio Reane (Allison, It. Holding Group), for a five-year period. Later, in September the license linking the company and the Marzotto Group was renewed until 2010. The launch of a women’s perfume signed by Estée Lauder was announced for Spring 2006.
Home Project
The Universal Expo 2005 is held in Aichi, Japan, and Tai was invited to represent the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. The stand includes the installation “Harmony from Diversity.” The work consists of mannequins “dressed” completely in patchwork knitwear and was the result of collaboration between Ottavio and Luca Missoni (Tai and Rosita’s second son) and the designer Angelo Figus. Later, in March the first Missoni shop in Catania was opened. Also, The Aramis and Designer Fragrances division of Estée Lauder and Missoni create a license that enables the beauty colossus to produce and distribute the perfume line.
In November 2005 Missoni signed a licensing agreement with Rezidor Hotel Group in order to create Missoni Hotel chain. The idea was to open 20 hotels around the world under Missoni trade mark. However, the agreement was terminated in 2014 and the two hotels under Missoni name, one in Edinburg and one in Kuwait, were rebranded and stayed as a property of Carlson Rezidor.
Current Situation
In September 2011 Missoni made a 400-piece collection in collaboration with Target. The collection was sold out in one day. Considering great success of the first collection Missoni collaborated with Target again in 2014, this time with Target Australia. Due to high interest for the collection, Target’s website was down on the day of launch.
Missoni Collection for Target
2013 was a hard year for the whole Missoni family, Vittorio Missoni, CEO of the brand, died in an airplane accident near the coast of Venezuela. Then, 4 months later his father and creator of the brand, Ottavio Missoni, died in his sleep.
In April of 2015 MA*GA Museum in Gallarate (VA) is dedicating the exhibition MISSONI, L’ARTE, IL COLORE to Ottavio and Rosita Missoni. This exhibition created a dialogue with twentieth-century European art. the exhibition explored the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of a great Italian fashion house. The extraordinary culture and brilliance of its two founders.
Exhibition MISSION, ART, COLOUR at The Fashion and Textile Museum in London
Also, in May of 2016 The Fashion and Textile Museum hosted the exhibition MISSONI, ART, COLOUR, in partnership with The Woolmark Company. It explores the influence of 20th-century European art on Missoni’s fashion and textile designs
In 2017 Missoni created a capsule activewear collection for luxury e-commerce site mytheresa.com The collection include six pieces, created by Angela Missoni and the face of the campaign is Jennifer Missoni, Angela’s niece. On the last Fall Winter 2017 collection Angela Missoni gave a speech after the fashion show, reminding people to embrace unity, human rights, and family. She stated that pink is the new black, and walked with her whole family who are key representatives of Missoni’s knit unity.
2017 Fashion Show Pink Pussy Hats to Support Womens Rights
Founded by Dante Trussardi in 1911 in Bergamo, Italy. The company started as a luxury gloves business. Today, Trussardi is an international brand that produces “Made in Italy” luxury leather goods, men’s and womenswear collections.
Founded by Dante Trussardi in 1911 in Bergamo, Italy. The company started as a high quality gloves business targeting elegant men and women. It grew and became an official provider for the royal family. The brand stood for discreet sophistication, experimentation and innovation. Iconic elements such as high quality raw materials and revolutionary leatherworking techniques were born. These iconic elements still exist in the brand DNA today.
1911 Dante Trussardi Sign
Nicola Trussardi
Sixty years later, Dante’s grandson, Nicola Trussardi, a young manager with a degree in economics from Catholic University of Milan, took over the family business. In school, Nicola studied leatherworking processes, the market, and new trends that were reinforcing Italian style around the world. This education helped Nicola understand the destiny of gloves by this point was obsolete, and without a decisive change in direction, the company was destined to decline and fall. Nicola’s vision is to create a lifestyle brand, able to embrace with every style of life all aspects of life, always focusing on excellence.
Nicola Trussardi Portrait
Trussardi became an industrial group and entered the clothing and luxury accessories department. They designed and produced suitcases, bags, home, office and leather jackets in constantly changing styles. The brand stood true to Italian tradition of fine craftsmanship that has been passed down through generations.
The Greyhound
In 1973 Nicola became the first designer to adopt a logo to identify all products. He used the greyhound to symbolize modernity, agility, and energy. the Greyhound revolutionizes the international fashion system leaving an indelible imprint in the imagination of those years with its refinement and elegance, with the cautious care of details, with incomparable quality materials. From this time on the greyhound became an international symbol, representing the brand that is still used today. In 1976 the brand opened its first flagship store in Milan and expanded into the European and American markets.
Red Leather Greyhound Logo
The First Fashion Show
The next step was natural, with the presentation of the first collection of prêt-à-porter in the late 70s and early 80s. With the close collaboration of his wife Maria Luisa, Nicola offered a prêt-à-porter with contemporary and dynamic lines. He favored the use of leather, reinvented by new technologies of processing and other modern and precious materials, such as neoprene and microfibers. Along with being a designer, Nicola was an expert in marketing. He immediately focused on the world of media with spectacular operations in Milan. He brought his runway presentations into exciting new spaces including: Teatro alla Scala, the Piazza del Duomo, the Pinacoteca di Brera, the Stazione Centrale, the Borsa, the racetrack, and opened them to the general public. He surrounded himself with intellectuals and artists, who gave their contributions to the griffe: from the painter Renato Guttuso from whose drawings he derived a sunflower print, to directors and costume designers invited to collaborate on the staging of the runway presentations. But Nicola does not stop at fashion: he is among the first to understand the unstoppable value of the brand: bicycles, tile, perfume, cars, airplanes, helicopters, house linens.
Nicolas Inspiration: Renato Guttuso
Trussardi and the Theater
The Trussardi lifestyle includes art, entertainment, cultured events and design. At this time, the brand had officially become a vital brand in the field of excellent products to be “Made in Italy.” Including the diverse range of fashion, art, cuisine and design. In the years Trussardi is able to blend in harmony with fashion at the theater. He collaborates with the Teatro Piccolo in Milan and with his director Giorgio Strehler, dressing Macbeth on stage at Verona Arena and setting up a parade at Castello Sforzesco with the direction of Dario Argento. Nicola interprets himself in Robert Altman’s Prêt-à-porter movie. This leads to the opening of Palatrussardi in 1986. A new venue for concerts and large scale entertainment events, that housed Frank Sinatra’s last concert in Italy.
Frank Sinatra at Palatrussardi
Brand Expansion
Known for their elegance and quality, Trussardi rapidly grew internationally through the 90s, that expanded beyond fashion. The Group launches the Jeans, Home, Baby, Junior, Eyewear and Perfumes lines, becoming synonymous with elegance and absolute quality. In the 1990s, the company continued its international expansion path, focusing on new emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East. New boutiques are opened in Hong Kong (1992), Moscow (1993), Taiwan and Taipei (1994). In those years it is also the image to spread the style around the world thanks to the collaboration with the most interesting voices of international photography such as Richard Avedon, Mario Testino, Michel Comte, and Steven Klein.
In 1996, Palazzo Marino Alla Scala opened, a newly renovated hotel, that became the first flagship building in the fashion world that was built with a showroom, boutique, exhibition space, café, bookshop and restaurant all in one. On average, in recent years, sales amount to Lire 750 billion a year. In 1998, he founded a school for future fashion professionals, photographers and communicators. Sadly, on an April night in 1999 Nicola Trussardi died suddenly at the age of 57, in a car crash. The tradition of the Trussardi family name and the spirit of Nicola continues to be upheld.
Beatrice Trussardi
After the death of their father, children Beatrice and Francesco took over the management of the family business. The “touch” of these two young people became immediately apparent. They created a younger fashion. The runway presentation for Winter 2003 ranged from the vaguely British style, with minor references to India in the form of damasked fabrics, and sporty suits. British style: knit pullovers with leather inserts, velvet suits, regimental stripes printed on the suede blazers. During this runway presentation, the maison announced a licensing agreement with Vestimenta, for formalwear and men’s sportswear, for Spring-Summer 2004.
Beatrice Trussardi Portrait
The following year Francesco died at the age of 29 in a car crash, by a tragic fate, just as his father had. In March of 2003, 32-year-old Beatrice, becomes sole president, after father and her brother’s sudden deaths. Determined to carry on the work that her brother had begun, for Winter 2004, she presented one of the finest runway presentations in the history of the brand. It represented a way of being, more than just a fashion. The desire to please, rather than to astonish. A wardrobe intentionally for daytime wear, outside of any trends, and therefore, easy to wear. The line included interchangeable items in bright and complementary colors.
In 2006 Eric Wright, an American designer, who worked closely alongside Karl Lagerfeld, while designing for Fendi womenswear, was named head designer by Beatrice, current CEO and President at the time. Beatrice hired Wright with the intention of strengthening the menswear by reversing the current marketed route by bringing back forgotten colors, patterns and rediscover the rounded lines of inside pocket objects. Wright was head designer for 2 years.
Then, in 2008 the Trussardi high end brand was re-named Trussardi dal 1911. During this name change, Beatrice Trussardi, current CEO and President appointed Milan Vukmirovic, previous creative director at Jil Sander, and briefly Design Director at Gucci working alongside Tom Ford, to creative director. Beatrice hired Vukmirovic for his contemporary vision for tradition of Trussardi style.
Foundation Nicola Trussardi
Beatrice also strengthened Trussardi’s commitment to contemporary culture through the launch of the Fondazione Nicola Trussardi; a nomadic museum built to bring art into people’s lives. The foundation restores neglected houses in Milan and gives them to the city to be used as space for exhibitions and events. The company is also part of the world of high-class cuisine with Trussardi Alla Scala Restaurant, one of the best outposts of quality gastronomy in Italy that has recently obtained the prestigious recognition of the two Michelin stars.
Restaurant Trussardi Alla Scala
Palazzo Trussardi Alla Scala
In 2009 Trussardi flagship building, Palazzo Trussardi Alla Scala underwent structural renovations and has become a heart of Italian culture. Sticking true to brand values of tradition, the building now houses the first concept store. Inside you can find an exposed layout filled with accessories and clothing for men and women, articles for the home, an area devoted to winning voices of image based journalism, and Café Trussardi, home of the first vertical garden installation in Italy, designed by Patrick Blanc.
Palazzo Trussardi Alla Scala
Group Values
Engaged in innovation, sustainability and environmental engagement, Trussardi is the story and the future of Made in Italy excellence in fashion, design, art and cuisine. The brand expresses a new lifestyle, based on excellence: for almost a hundred years the brand is an expression of the solidity and creativity of a home, commitment, and family values.
In fashion, the company has developed, in a century of experience, a unique ability to look for new ways and techniques for treating hides and fabrics. The roots of the brand include the Italian industrial history and its ability to work on the skin is unmatched throughout the world. The gloves laboratory opened by Dante Trussardi in 1911 is a historic example of the dedication and ambitions of the company. The creativity of the family, which has crossed, reinvented and renewed, the last century of our history, expresses an imaginary made of measured elegance, attention to detail, sobriety and charm.
Trussardi Blue Leather Gloves
In fashion, design, art and cuisine, each time the brand continually combines the culture of its history with the emotion, lightness, irony, and visions of contemporary. Thanks to the strength of the tradition that has built over time, the brand is able to offer fascinating surprises, rapid innovations, and small daily revolutions.
Trussardi in the world
Trussardi is an industrial group that produces and distributes worldwide. Through a differentiation between flagship stores, boutiques, franchise stores, corners, licenses and large retailers, their products are present in every significant market for apparel, accessories, perfumes, furnishing, and home accessories.
The Group’s exclusive distribution network comprises around 440 outlets around the world: 7 Trussardi boutiques, over 300 Tru Trussardi boutiques and in department stores, 17 Trussardi Home stores, and more than 110 retail outlets and stores. Including, the first TJ (TrussardiJeans) shop opened at Moscow Gum in 23 countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
The Group is also present in the most important multibrands in the world including Barneys, New York; Jeffrey’s, New York; The Webster, Miami; Ron Hermann, Los Angeles; Harrods, London; Joseph, London; Aizel, Moscow; Colette, Paris; Printemps, Paris; Mientus, Berlin; Quartier 206, Berlin; Abseits, Stuttgart; Lakis Gavalas, Athens; Galy, Ibiza; The Outpost, Barcelona; Chapeau, Valencia; White Gallery, Rome; Boon the shop, Seoul; United Arrows, Tokyo; Restir, Tokyo; Designworks, Tokyo; Isetan, Tokyo; Estnation, Tokyo; Eight Million, Tokyo; Joyce, Hong Kong.
The Recent Year’s
Family Portrait
Through the renovations the company exposes themes of innovation and sustainability. Then, in 2011 Trussardi 1911 line is officially changed to Trussardi. Umit Benan Sahin, Turkish designer, is appointed as head designer of now Trussardi line. He previously worked for Marc Jacobs, Cacharel, and under Sophie Theallet. Sahin debuted his first line at Milan Fashion Week for Spring/Summer 2012 at Palazzo Trussardi alla Scala.
February of 2013, Gaia Trussardi, granddaughter of founder Dante, is appointed as creative director of Trussardi mainline collections and advertising campaigns. She has been a part of the company since age 23, and previously designed for Tru Trussardi and Trussardi Jeans. The brand expresses its need for continuous evolution and to strengthen brand identity. In March 2016, Beatrice, former CEO and President, gave Tomaso Trussardi, current CEO, her 25% stake in the company. The company announced a 5-year plan to reposition the brand in accessible luxury. Including a 90% overhaul in line management and restructuring of the multi and mono-brand sales channel, closing down less profitable stores. Along with major changes, the line Tru Trussardi is being discontinued, the last collection was Spring/Summer 2016. Trussardi and Trussardi Jeans will remain. Gaia plans to position the main Trussardi line around “Elegantly Cool” and the Trussardi Jeans will remain a streetwear look.
Today, Trussardi has introduced a contemporary new accessory called the Lovy bag, representing true Italian craftsmanship, made of the finest materials. The brand ambassador, Michelle Hunziker, represents the ironic and elegant elements of the brand. She is confident, complimented with a bubbly personality. Michelle is the ambassador for the new bag, appearing in all campaigns since 2016.
Michelle Hunziker: Brand Ambassador for the Lovy Bag
Luisa Beccaria is an Italian designer that represents femininity, grace, and romance. A “contemporary dreamer”, which brings the spirit of every woman to dream. Read the history of the brand from the first collection to today.
Luisa Beccaria (1956). A designer from Milan, and a descendant of Cesare Beccaria, the 18th century jurist and author of Of Crimes and Punishments, and Giulia Beccaria, the mother of Alessandro Manzoni. Married with four children, she defines herself as a designer who had a calling:
“When still quite young, I designed my first ball gowns.”
In 1989, on the occasion of her début at Milano Collezioni, she amazed the public by presenting a tableau vivant in which young girls from high society participated. But her real début goes back to 1980, when she presented a few of her designs at the Fornasetti art gallery, just for fun. Everything sold within three days. The fun, then, had turned into work.
Portrait of Luisa Beccaria
Inspiration
“Extravagance and creativity do not have time, they have no space. They have no words that describe them, they simply manifest themselves. “
Since childhood Luisa Beccaria has been surrounded by art, poetry, music and nature. She invented a super feminine aesthetic that speaks of herself as a “contemporary dreamer“, which brings the spirit of every woman to dream. Her inspirations include art, literature, music and philosophy of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Luisa Beccaria Fashion Show Milan 2012
Neo-romance is the signature that the brand. This romance is embellished through the use of special fabrics; lace, brocade, polished white tulle embellished with three-dimensional velvet flowers, and brought to life by fantasies that evoke the lightness of a dream. It fascinates the originality of its creations, made with special features, precious fabrics, unusual and surprising colors. In addition to these inspirations, there is also a vibrant Mediterranean touch coming from Sicily, home of Luisa’s husband.
Brand Expansion
Luisa Beccaria presents her first haute couture collection in Rome in 1991. The rest is common knowledge: her Collections became an important part of each season, she opened a single-brand (monogriffe) boutique for women, children and bridal-wear. Also, she opened an atelier handling tailor made creations. Along with names such as Versace and Valentino, she became a guest of honor at the French fashion week with her haute couture fashion show at the invitation of the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris.
Luisa Beccaria Spring / Summer 2016 Collection
Later, she organized other haute couture walkers in Ville Lumière. Luisa Beccaria’s work revolutionized fashion, as she herself said:
“For women it is time to embrace grace, romance and femininity.”
Her woman of dreams is charming, sometimes frail like a Lalique crystal, or an echo of memories past, wearing clothes inspired by the paintings of Fragonard and Winterhalter. Also, there are references closer in time that remind us of the stars of Hollywood and bring a contemporary romanticism that is rich in suggestiveness.
Luisa Beccaria Turns Down Chloé
The Vendôme group proposes Luisa Beccaria to replace Karl Lagerfeld with the Chloé maison, but she, though flattered, had the courage to decline. Luisa chooses to stay in Italy to develop her personal line and to stay close to her family.
The Family of Luisa Beccaria
Her incredible decision became big news in the U.S. Major articles in Vogue America and Woman’s Wear Daily, who were devoted to her. At the start of the millenium in 2000 she designed a prêt-à-porter couture line that was presented at Milano Collezioni. Her clothes are available in exclusive shops like Barney’s New York and Barney’s Japan.
Lucilla Bonaccorsi
Lucilla Bonaccorsi
For Autumn-Winter 2004 she is inspired by the woman of the 1950s, with her full, flared skirts, and bags and shoes made from the same fabric as the clothes, in velvets, macramés, and chenilles.
In 2006 Lucilla Bonaccorsi, Luisa’s eldest daughter, decided to join the team and to handle the prêt-à-porter collections of the brand. Lucilla has cultivated a particular aesthetic vision for a lifetime. Her interest in fashion has blossomed prematurely. At age 8 she closed a high fashion show wearing a gold brocade dress, dancers, and a flower in her hair.
Lucilla not only emphasized the super-feminine style of the brand, but also made a young touch with playful details and new ideas. Lucilla and Luisa, together, have brought the brand to the way of eternity. The style is always cool, typical of women who are able to dream. The world of Luisa Beccaria is inhabited by nymphs in light and impalpable clothes, decorated with precious embroidery, wide, endless, sleek shades of the sea. The Dresses become more fascinating from one collection to another.
The Recent Years
Over the years, the fashion of Luisa Beccaria has continued to be very successful, thanks to impalpable fabrics, soft colors, dresses characterized by grace and lightness for a poetic but transversal and contemporary woman. The collections continue to confirm the presence of the designer in the international fashion scene.
Anne Hathaway Wearing Luisa Beccaria
Luisa Beccaria’s creations are well-known and sought after by celebrities around the world like Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Angelina Jolie, Lady GaGa, Kate Winslet, Halle Berry, Madonna and Fan Bing Bing. Women who love her style continue to dream with passion, strength, beauty, and freedom are also reflected.
Current Situation
The Autumn / Winter 2017 collection, presented at Milan Fashion Week, was a collaboration with Tiffany & Co. The eyes of everyone are dazzled by the beauty of Luisa Beccaria’s dresses combined with Tiffany jewelery, both on the walkway and worn by celebrities and dinner party guests. Prêt-à-porter collections were presented in a context recalling the scene of Il Gattopardo by Luchino Visconti. After the fashion show, guests were invited to lunches and dinners inspired by Sicily at Il Castelluccio, the family castle in the Noto countryside, the interpreter of the charm of Made in Italy.
The Interior of Il Castelluccio
The flagship store of Luisa Beccaria is located in via Formentini 1, in the heart of Brera, Milan. Here is the Neo-Romanesque world of the designer, with all collections: woman, bride, children, accessories, and furniture.
Daughter of an antiquarian, Vivetta Ponti, was born in Assisi and graduated from the Linguistics of Le Mantellate in Florence. After attending the Paullo training center in Milan, Vivetta began her training course in Robert Cavalli’s office as a design assistant.
For Vivetta, her experience at Cavalli was long, but decisive for her creative development, and understanding of business dynamics.
Vivetta Collection 2017
In 2008 Vivetti Ponti won “Who’s Next” in Paris, a competition rewarding the best emerging artists. The next year, the designer made a big leap and launched her own label, “Vivetta”. The brand debuted for the first time at White Milano in 2010. As the designer said, the early years were “hard and full of defeats,” because her style was not understood.
“It was crucial not to demise and believe 100%, without listening to anyone, and making me demoralized. Now, we have a lot of work on the project, company, and worldwide distribution.”
The Success
In 2015, during Milan Fashion Week, Giorgio Armani chose Vivetta to present her Autumn/Winter 2015/2016 “The Groupie Attitude” collection in Armani Theater. Armani had already defined Vivetta as “the best”.
“I have a beautiful memory of the experience, despite some factors of understandable disorganization, being the first presentation. From that day things started to go well, even in Italy.”
With the Spring/Summer 2017 collection, Vivetta Ponti was the first Italian designer to join the Swavorski Collective project. This project encouraged designers to explore new creative paths through the use of crystals.
Vivetta 2017 Collection
In March 2017, Vivetta Ponti, was the host of Mercedes-Benz in Beijing, where she presented her Autumn/Winter 2017 collection within the Mercedes-Benz International Designer Exchange Program.
Brand Style
The brand style of Vivetta includes nostalgic elements such as poetry, dolls, antique furnishings and a 50s design combined with hyper-contemporary silhouettes and bon ton. Clean lines are enriched with unexpected details and surreal elements. Creating a new idea of elegance: playful and dynamic, romantic and ironic, but also surreal and tailor-made. Originality is in fact made with the best tradition of Made in Italy.
Vivetta 2017 Collection Details at Milan Fashion Week
The Vivetta style is feminine, delicate, dreamy, irreverent and fair, accompanied by a strong personality. That’s why it has become a point of reference for all trendy women constantly looking for a touch of eccentricity.
The company is based in Florence where all creations are hand-drawn, then handmade. Distribution points include Barney’s NY, Selfridges, Harrods, Le Bon Marche, Moda Operandi, LuisaViaRoma, and Tsum retailers.
The Family of Luisa Beccaria
