Brioni
Encyclopedia
Brioni is an Italian fashion house founded in 1945. It specializes in the sale of hand-made suits. PPR
acquired the company in 2011.
n island group, the Brijuni islands.
Brioni's first fashion show was held in 1952 at the Pitti Palace, Florence
. The show gave the company exposure to clients worldwide. In 1954, Brioni held a fashion show in New York City, followed by shows in eight other American cities. That year, Brioni opened new shops on both sides of the Atlantic.
Umberto Angeloni took over as Chief Executive Officer in 1990, and started an expansion plan which saw the introduction of a womenswear line, and shops opening in locations such as Mumbai
, St. Petersburg, and Baku
. He also arranged for Brioni suits to appear in James Bond
movies from 1995. However in 2006 the family replaced Angeloni with three joint CEO's: Antonella de Simone (descended from Fonticoli), Andrea Perrone (a descendant of Savini), and finance man Antonio Bianchini. Francesco Pesci was nominated CEO in 2010. PPR
confirmed in November 2011 the acquisition of the company for an undisclosed amount estimated between 250 and 350 million euros, including 100 million euros in debt.
, Italy, where expert tailors hand-sew jackets and trousers before adding the finishing touches by machine. Brioni also owns a shirt factory, a leather
fashion house and a line of women's clothing.
Brioni's 900 tailor
s create 200 models in different styles and sizes every year. A quarter of the production consists of made-to-measure tailored suits for an elite of 25,000 customers.
Each garment requires at least 30–35 hours of work, and there are more than 5,000 different fabrics to choose from. An off the peg suit costs about $5,000 at the entry-level; and most custom-tailored suits range from $6,000 to $46,000.
As of February 2009, Brioni is offering a $43,000 pinstripe suit made from some of the world's rarest fabrics including the expensive wool of the vicuña
, a rare South American relative of the llama. The suit's pinstripe stitching are genuine white gold.
Tailors must go through a four year apprenticeship.
Six of the boutiques are in the United States, in New York
at Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills at Rodeo Drive
, San Francisco at Union Square, Miami Beach at Bal Harbour, in downtown Aspen
, and in Las Vegas
at the Wynn
. Brioni's New York showrooms are located on 52nd Street
and 57th Street in Manhattan
. A 7th US location is set to open in Atlanta in 2010 at the Streets of Buckhead
. In the USA Brioni garments can be purchased at high end department stores including Saks Fifth Avenue
, Barneys New York
, Bergdorf Goodman
, Wilkes Bashford
and Neiman Marcus
.
. It has been the official suit of fictional secret agent James Bond
, having been worn by actors Pierce Brosnan
and Daniel Craig
. Celebrities such as Clark Gable
and Cary Grant
began to buy their suits from Brioni in the 1950s when working at Rome's Cinecittà
studios. New York crime boss of the Gambino crime family
John Gotti
earned the nickname Dapper Don after his extensive wardrobe of custom Brioni suits. Brioni is a "favorite" of real estate mogul Donald Trump
.
Other customers include:
PPR (company)
PPR is a French multinational holding company specializing in retail shops and luxury brands. The company was founded in 1963 by the businessman François Pinault and is now run by his son François-Henri Pinault. It is quoted on Euronext Paris and is a constituent of the CAC 40 index...
acquired the company in 2011.
History
Master tailor Nazareno Fonticoli and his business partner Gaetano Savini opened their first suit shop in Rome's Via Barberini at the end of World War II. The company was named after the Italian name for the CroatiaCroatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n island group, the Brijuni islands.
Brioni's first fashion show was held in 1952 at the Pitti Palace, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. The show gave the company exposure to clients worldwide. In 1954, Brioni held a fashion show in New York City, followed by shows in eight other American cities. That year, Brioni opened new shops on both sides of the Atlantic.
Umberto Angeloni took over as Chief Executive Officer in 1990, and started an expansion plan which saw the introduction of a womenswear line, and shops opening in locations such as Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, St. Petersburg, and Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
. He also arranged for Brioni suits to appear in James Bond
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
movies from 1995. However in 2006 the family replaced Angeloni with three joint CEO's: Antonella de Simone (descended from Fonticoli), Andrea Perrone (a descendant of Savini), and finance man Antonio Bianchini. Francesco Pesci was nominated CEO in 2010. PPR
PPR (company)
PPR is a French multinational holding company specializing in retail shops and luxury brands. The company was founded in 1963 by the businessman François Pinault and is now run by his son François-Henri Pinault. It is quoted on Euronext Paris and is a constituent of the CAC 40 index...
confirmed in November 2011 the acquisition of the company for an undisclosed amount estimated between 250 and 350 million euros, including 100 million euros in debt.
Production
In order to meet the demand of such a large clientele, Brioni opened a factory in AbruzzoAbruzzo
Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...
, Italy, where expert tailors hand-sew jackets and trousers before adding the finishing touches by machine. Brioni also owns a shirt factory, a leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
fashion house and a line of women's clothing.
Brioni's 900 tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
s create 200 models in different styles and sizes every year. A quarter of the production consists of made-to-measure tailored suits for an elite of 25,000 customers.
Each garment requires at least 30–35 hours of work, and there are more than 5,000 different fabrics to choose from. An off the peg suit costs about $5,000 at the entry-level; and most custom-tailored suits range from $6,000 to $46,000.
As of February 2009, Brioni is offering a $43,000 pinstripe suit made from some of the world's rarest fabrics including the expensive wool of the vicuña
Vicuña
The vicuña or vicugna is one of two wild South American camelids, along with the guanaco, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes. It is a relative of the llama, and is now believed to share a wild ancestor with domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their fibre...
, a rare South American relative of the llama. The suit's pinstripe stitching are genuine white gold.
Tailors must go through a four year apprenticeship.
Boutiques
As of January 2007, Brioni owned 25 boutiques, which accounted for about 20% of sales. There were a further 13 franchised stores.Six of the boutiques are in the United States, in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
at Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills at Rodeo Drive
Rodeo Drive
Rodeo Drive of Beverly Hills, California is a shopping district known for designer label and haute couture fashion. The name generally refers to a three-block long stretch of boutiques and shops but the street stretches further north and south....
, San Francisco at Union Square, Miami Beach at Bal Harbour, in downtown Aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
, and in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
at the Wynn
Wynn Las Vegas
Wynn Las Vegas is a resort and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The US $2.7 billion resort is named after casino developer Steve Wynn and is the flagship property of Wynn Resorts Limited. The resort covers . It is located on Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue Wynn Las...
. Brioni's New York showrooms are located on 52nd Street
52nd Street (Manhattan)
52nd Street is a long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan.-Jazz center:The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue were renowned in the mid-20th century for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life...
and 57th Street in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. A 7th US location is set to open in Atlanta in 2010 at the Streets of Buckhead
Streets of Buckhead
Buckhead Atlanta, until May 2011 called Streets of Buckhead is a planned mixed-use development in the Buckhead Community in Atlanta, Georgia. The project is a redevelopment of part of the Buckhead Village neighborhood bounded by Peachtree Rd., E. Paces Ferry Rd., Pharr Rd., and N. Fulton Drive...
. In the USA Brioni garments can be purchased at high end department stores including Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
, Barneys New York
Barneys New York
Barneys New York is a chain of luxury department stores headquartered in New York City. The chain owns large stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Scottsdale, and smaller stores in other locations across the United States.Brands sold include...
, Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman is a luxury goods department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son Andrew Goodman....
, Wilkes Bashford
Wilkes Bashford
Wilkes Bashford is an upscale store for women and men in the Union Square Shopping District in San Francisco, California.It was established in 1966 by Wilkes Bashford and has long catered to the elite, including former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown....
and Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
.
Clientele
From the beginning, Brioni suits were luxuries only afforded to the privileged few, namely Europe's wealthy aristocratsAristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
. It has been the official suit of fictional secret agent James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
, having been worn by actors Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
and Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. His early film roles include Elizabeth, The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle, Zorro and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert...
. Celebrities such as Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
and Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
began to buy their suits from Brioni in the 1950s when working at Rome's Cinecittà
Cinecittà
Cinecittà is a large film studio in Rome that is considered the hub of Italian cinema.-History:The studios were founded in 1937 by Benito Mussolini and his head of cinema Luigi Freddi for propaganda purposes, under the slogan "Il cinema è l'arma più forte"...
studios. New York crime boss of the Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
earned the nickname Dapper Don after his extensive wardrobe of custom Brioni suits. Brioni is a "favorite" of real estate mogul Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
.
Other customers include:
- Andrew W.K.Andrew W.K.Andrew W.K. is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, entertainer, and motivational speaker. He is the host of the television series Destroy Build Destroy.-Early life & career:Andrew Wilkes-Krier was born in Stanford, California, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan...
- Kirk DouglasKirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
- Henry FondaHenry FondaHenry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
- Clark GableClark GableWilliam Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
- Rock HudsonRock HudsonRoy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
- Peter JenningsPeter JenningsPeter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM was a Canadian American journalist and news anchor. He was the sole anchor of ABC's World News Tonight from 1983 until his death in 2005 of complications from lung cancer...
- Al PacinoAl PacinoAlfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
- Paul McKennaPaul McKennaPaul McKenna is an English hypnotist and self-improvement author.McKenna has written and produced books and multimedia products, hosted self-improvement television shows and presents seminars in hypnosis, neuro-linguistic programming, weight loss and motivation.-Career:Paul McKenna started in...
- Anthony QuinnAnthony QuinnAntonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
- Robert WagnerRobert WagnerRobert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
- John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
- James BelushiJames BelushiJames Adam "Jim" Belushi is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is the younger brother of comic actor John Belushi.-Early life:Belushi was born in Chicago...
- Kofi AnnanKofi AnnanKofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
- Rudolph Giuliani
- Robert Kennedy
- Nelson MandelaNelson MandelaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
- Gerhard SchröderGerhard SchröderGerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor...
- George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
- Luciano PavarottiLuciano Pavarottiright|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
- Willie Lewis Brown, Jr.