Nino Cerruti (25 September 1930 – 15 January 2022)
His first menswear company, called Hitman, was launched in 1957 and its clothing was deemed groundbreaking for its time. Under the Hitman label, Cerruti is credited with creating the first deconstructed jacket for men. It was here that Giorgio Armani was hired as a young talent in the mid-1960s.
Cerruti then launched his luxury menswear fashion house, Cerruti 1881 in 1967 in Place de la Madeleine, Paris. The headquarters for Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti was also relocated to the same area to be closer to the international fashion capital – production, however, was maintained in Italy.
It was not long before French film stars such as Jean-Paul Belmondo became fans of Cerruti 1881, thanks to its use of colours, innovative designs and dedication to tradition.
The fashion house’s popularity spread across the Atlantic as well, garnering famous Hollywood fans such as Michael Douglas, Jack Nicholson, Richard Gere and Robert Redford.
Cerruti sold the company in the early 2000s, but he never turned his back on the fashion house. The last collection he designed was for Spring-Summer 2020.
“He was the first to understand the importance of creativity in menswear and to give space to a young designer of immense talent like Giorgio Armani, changing the very criteria of how to dress. He was one of the first to have a strong international presence, representing to the world that unique combination of creativity and quality that came to characterise and still characterises Italian fashion.”
Carlo Capasa (president of Italy’s fashion chamber)
Rest in Power!
