Brioni is an Italianmenswear couture house owned by Frenchholding companyKering. Founded in Rome in 1945, it is known for its bespoke men's suits, sartorial ready-to-wear collections and leather goods. Throughout its history, the company has invented concepts such as the men's runway show, the trunk show, and the ready-to-wear Haute Couture. Brioni designs, develops and manufactures Su Misura garments and sartorial ready-to-wear collections as well as leather goods, shoes, eyewear and fragrance. Brioni products are distributed globally, encompassing Europe, Asia and America, through directly-owned boutiques and a network of department stores. On 17 March 2017 Brioni announced the appointment of Fabrizio Malverdi as CEO, a month after Gianluca Flore stepped down from the role.
Brand history
Brioni was established in Rome in 1945 as a men's tailoring company by founders Nazareno Fonticoli, a tailor, and Gaetano Savini, an entrepreneur. They opened their first shop on Via Barberini 79, naming the brand after the formerly Italian Brionian Islands ; the shop is still at the same address. Brioni quickly started to raise interest from high-profile movie business personalities, heads of state and business leaders. In 1952, Brioni staged the first men’s fashion show in history, inside the Sala Bianca at Palazzo Pitti in Florence. The clothes introduced new silhouettes, bold colors and innovative fabrics, marking an important chapter for the company. A couple of years later, Brioni invented the trunk show, during which the collections were presented directly in stores, allowing customers to personalize the garments with the Su Misura service. In 1959, a production plant was opened in Penne, Abruzzo, birth town of Nazareno Fonticoli. Called Brioni Roman Style, the state-of-the-art factory introduced the concept of Prêt Couture, or ready-to-wear Haute Couture that sealed the international rise of the brand. In 1985, the company opened a tailoring school in Penne with the aim of transmitting to younger generations the specific Brioni sartorial method. In 2012, the group was acquired by French group Kering.
Creative directors
Brioni's creative director from July 2012 to February 2016 was British-born Brendan Mullane. On March 23, 2016, luxury conglomerate Kering announced that it had appointed Justin O’Shea, a heavily tattooed Australian and street-style enthusiast with more than 80,000 Instagram followers, as creative director. O’Shea was formerly the fashion director of the Germane-commerce site MyTheresa. O’Shea featured the four members of Metallica dressed in Brioni tuxedos in his first ad campaign with the brand; the photos were shot by Zackery Michael. The remake of Brioni's logo under O'Shea by friend and frequent collaborator Benny Robinson has been compared to the Fraktur typeface. O'Shea showed his first collection for the house on 4 July 2016. In early October 2016 Brioni announced that O'Shea would leave the brand. Brioni reported that its Autumn/Winter 2017 collection would be presented to buyers in the Milan showroom from mid-November 2016 but would not have a corresponding runway show. In June 15, 2017, Nina-Maria Nitsche was appointed creative director.
