Brioni (brand)

Brioni
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Fashion
Founded	1945
Founder	Nazareno Fonticoli; Gaetano Savini
Headquarters	Rome, Italy
Key people	Fabrizio Malverdi, CEO
Owner	Kering
Website	www.brioni.com

Brioni is an Italian menswear couture house owned by French holding company Kering. Founded in Rome in 1945,^[1] it is known for its made-to-measure 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. It has been a point of reference for the entertainment, institutional and business worlds. Its Creative Director from July 2012 to February 2016 was British-born Brendan Mullane.^[2]^[3]^[4] Its creative director from April 2016 to September 2016 was Justin O’Shea.^[5]^[6]^[7]

As of June 15, 2017, Nina-Maria Nitsche is Brioni's Creative Director.^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]

History

A Brioni boutique, at Wynn Las Vegas, featuring red cursive logo of 1986 to 2016

Brioni was established in Rome in 1945 as a men's tailoring company by founders Nazareno Fonticoli, a tailor, and Gaetano Savini, an entrepreneur.^[13] They opened their first shop on Via Barberini 79, naming the brand after the formerly Italian Brionian Islands (now part of Croatia); 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 (made-to-measure).^[14]

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.^[15]

Red cursive logo of 1986 to 2016

In 2007^[16] and 2011^[17] The Luxury Institute ranked Brioni among the most prestigious men’s fashion luxury goods brands in America.

Recent history

In 2012, with the acquisition by French group Kering,^[18] the company entered a new phase. Under the leadership of Creative Director Brendan Mullane, 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 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.^[19] A self-taught retail expert, O’Shea was formerly the fashion director of the German e-commerce site MyTheresa.^[20]^[21] O’Shea featured the four members of Metallica dressed in Brioni tuxedos in his first ad campaign with the brand;^[22]^[23] the photos were shot by Zackery Michael.^[24] The remake of Brioni's logo under O'Shea by friend and frequent collaborator Benny Robinson has been compared to the Fraktur typeface.^[25]^[26] O'Shea showed his first collection for the house on 4 July 2016.^[27] In early October 2016 Brioni announced that O'Shea would leave the brand.^[28]^[29] 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.^[28]