Page 33 - Protagonist 108

PROTAGONIST / THE EVOLUTION OF THE SPECIES

T he sun is shining in the Parisian sky and the
temperature suddenly rises as I head towards
the new Berluti boutique, at 14, Rue de Sèvres,
right next to the historic Hotel Lutetia, an Art
Nouveau gem. The shade of the boutique is an
unexpected oasis. It is here that Antoine Arnault has decided

to create a home for the brand-new Berluti range to clothe men

from top to toe. Until today, Berluti was a name that instantly

recalled shoes of the highest quality, a history spanning two

centuries interpreted with designs that are always contemporary

for beautiful models as colourful as Chinese lacquers. To

follow is a brief summary of the two-fold shock that has hit past

masters of elegance worldwide: the first has recently seen the

Maison, founded by shoemaker Alessandro Berluti in 1895,

grow with a range of clothing and accessories which round the

men’s wardrobe off to perfection, working from the ground

upwards. The second was that the new boutique has taken the

place of the celebrated and highly skilled tailor’s, Arnys: a time-

honoured location in the French capital. Before they were able

to discover its destiny, Parisians with a keen eye for elegant

detail were behaving like crazed ants: what will happen to the

Arnys tailor atelier? Is it closing? Are they selling up? Who to?

The reply, Berluti, calmed the waters: the atelier will continue

to work and produce excellence, but it will do so under the

sign of the Maison with Italian roots which is now part of the

LVMH group. These recent developments are explained to

me by Alessandro Sartori, the young and exquisitely kind Art

Director of the Maison, charged by Monsieur Arnault with the

task of conceiving and developing the new

design, harnessing the style, sensitivity and } As a boy he loved about my ideas on how to grow a brand,
heritage of Berluti in clothing men “from the spending time in his how to develop a product in the luxury
feet upwards”. He receives me with an affable mother’s atelier market… From the outset we clicked. He
smile: he is human. It is a rare quality in a amidst scissors and then told me he wanted to entrust work
person like him who has to deal with a company swatches of fabric on his new “creature”, Berluti, to me.”
which is both large and small at the same time, An appointment that might throw some

implementing a project of strategic importance into panic, but not Alessandro Sartori.

whilst overseeing every tiny detail. But let’s start from the He feels he is part of a company whose intentions and spirit

beginning. Alessandro Sartori is 48 and hails from Biella. remain family-oriented, in spite of the fact that it is part of

Since childhood, he has had a real passion for tailoring: a global group. But where did the idea of a Berluti clothing
his mother ran an atelier with seven employees, and the
young Alessandro became fascinated by the painstaking range come from? Wasn’t the shoe enough? And what for? “Our
client is a modern dandy with a creative spirit,” he says. “Like
all creative people, this client doesn’t stop at the characteristic

work carried out almost in secret, behind the scenes of the approach to style of his country of origin: he is transversal.

shop, from an early age. He specialised in textile engineering An outgoing individual, just like the Maison itself, who loves

at Biella and spent two years in Hong Kong honing his studies; objects that never grow old. Our clothing range starts with the

the big leap came in 2003, when he was called to work as the shoe of course, but it completes the Berluti man. Ours is not

Creative Director of the Z Zegna range at Ermenegildo Zegna. an industrial product: it is something you collect over time as

He soon left his mark and was noticed, attracting the attention you build your wardrobe, combining the old with what is to

of Antoine Arnault. “I didn’t know exactly why Monsieur come. The season’s garments always go with everything you

Arnault wanted to see me. We met for an aperitif in a restaurant, have bought two or three years ago.” Sartori cannot conceal

in a relaxed and informal situation: he was curious to hear a certain degree of satisfaction when he notes that many

Top, two proposals from the Spring/Summer 2016 Berluti collection: from left, fitted jacket, trousers and shirt all in cotton, Oxford slip-on
shoe with Victor model in leather, Un Jour leather matt-effect bag: suit in white cotton, sneakers: Playfield model
in emerald green abd leather matt-effect neptunite holdall in navy blue. Opposite, Alessandro Sartori, the Maison’s Artistic Director since 2011.

33N. 108 / PROTAGONIST