Farewell to Nino Cerruti, designer and entrepreneur from Biella, one of the great protagonists of Italian fashion of the last century. This master of style and elegance, a true "gentleman" of fashion, who has represented high quality elegance and style for decades in the world jet set, from Hollywood to Formula 1, is responsible for the invention of the deconstructed men's jacket . Born precisely in the period, in the mid-1960s, in which Cerruti had hired talented emerging young people among his collaborators, such as Giorgio Armani, who would later make the deconstructed jacket the iconic standard-bearer garment of an unmistakable style. Nino Cerruti disappears at 91 years old. He was hospitalized in the Vercelli hospital and would have died following some complications that occurred after a hip operation.He was born in Biella on September 25, 1930, into a family of textile industrialists.
Very young, at the age of 20, he lost his father and inherited the business. Event that forced him to abruptly interrupt his studies in Philosophy and Journalism. But the vocation for fashion was in his DNA, so, following the family tradition, the young man, very intuitive, began to invest in the research and development of fabrics, thus adding elegance and design to the quality of his garments. In a few years, in 1957, he began to achieve international success confirmed with the presentation in Milan of his first clothing line, the Hitman. In 1962 he founded with Osvaldo Testa the "Flying Cross" brand, the first "Designer Line". In 1967 he inaugurated the first "Cerruti 1881" boutique on Place de la Madeleine in Paris. It was precisely in that period that in his Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti,in the mid-sixties, he made use of the collaboration of new and talented names in Italian fashion, hiring a rookie Giorgio Armani as a designer. Thus, in the seventies the first deconstructed jacket was born, soft, without the stiffness that had characterized it for several decades.
Nino Cerruti's vision of fashion was international.
He established licensing agreements in Japan and the United States to increase the visibility of the brand internationally and to keep prices competitive, proving that he is not only a brilliant creative but also a forward-looking entrepreneur. The women's line also arrived in the 1960s. In 1975 Hitman began the production and distribution of knitwear, shirts and casual lines, under the "Cerruti 1881 Brothers" brand. The first male perfume linked to the brand, called "Nino Cerruti" arrived in the seventies. In the Eighties, Cerruti launched the sportswear line, which included clothing dedicated to tennis and skiing, two sports where it sponsors champions such as the American tennis player Jimmy Connors and the Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark.The brand has a global success and in 1994 the brand becomes the official designer of the Ferrari Formula 1 team. Also in the 1990s, two new perfumes were launched, "Cerruti 1881 Pour Homme" and "Cerruti 1881 Pour Femme", produced and distributed by Elizabeth Arden. In addition, single-brand stores are opened in China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia. In 1995 the production of the "Cerruti Arte" women's line begins. In 1998 the new men's perfume "Cerruti Image" was presented and in the same year the Cerruti store was opened on Madison Avenue in New York. In 2000 Cerruti opens a flagship store in Hong Kong.Cerruti 1881 Pour Femme ", produced and distributed by Elizabeth Arden. In addition, single-brand stores are opened in China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia. In 1995 the production of the" Cerruti Arte "women's line begins. In 1998 the new men's perfume is presented" Cerruti Image "and in the same year the Cerruti store was opened on Madison Avenue in New York. In 2000 Cerruti opened a flagship store in Hong Kong.Cerruti 1881 Pour Femme ", produced and distributed by Elizabeth Arden. In addition, single-brand stores are opened in China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia. In 1995 the production of the" Cerruti Arte "women's line begins. In 1998 the new men's perfume is presented" Cerruti Image "and in the same year the Cerruti store was opened on Madison Avenue in New York. In 2000 Cerruti opened a flagship store in Hong Kong.In 2000 Cerruti opens a flagship store in Hong Kong.In 2000 Cerruti opens a flagship store in Hong Kong.
In the same year, the female version of the perfume "Cerruti Image" was launched.
Also in 2000 Nino Cerruti was appointed Cavaliere del Lavoro by the President of the Republic.
The Cerruti 1881 brand was sold in 2001 by Cerruti Holding, to focus on the Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti.
Among the awards received by Nino Cerruti, testifying to a career with worldwide success, the Bath Museum of Costume Dress of the Year Award, in 1978 in Great Britain and the Pitti Uomo Award, in Florence in 1986. (ANSA).
