Nino Cerruti

Nino Cerruti, (born September 25, 1930) in Biella, is an Italian stylist and fashion producer.

Personal history

At the age of 20, Nino Cerruti became the head of the family woolen business after his father's untimely death. Nino's grandfather had founded a textile mill in Biella, Italy in 1881. Drawing from his experience in producing excellent fabrics, Cerruti ventured into the production of clothing in the late 1950s. His first men's collection, Hitman, was shown in 1957 and was considered a revolution in men's wear at the time. Eventually, in 1967, the Cerruti menswear line was launched which was to be followed by a womenswear collection a year later.

The first 'Cerruti boutique opened in 1967 on Rue Royale in Paris, where Cerruti moved the company's headquarters in order to be closer to the international fashion capital. The fabric production under the name of Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti and the Hitman label remained in Italy. Cerruti, Lanificio Cerruti of Biella and Hitman, based out of Corsio, together formed Fratelli Cerruti, the Cerruti Brothers group.

Over the years, Cerruti offered womenswear and menswear, the Cerruti 1881 diffusion line, a luxury ready-to-wear collection named Cerruti Arte, Cerruti Jeans, the Cerruti Brothers business collection for men, Cerruti 1881 Shapes for the Asian market as well as fragrances and accessories. Later the clothing lines were regrouped under the 'Cerruti 1881' name as Grey (top range line), Cobalt (diffusion line) and Orange (sportswear line) labels. Cerruti has always been known for its classic wool suits, always trying to match the everyday challenges for its owner.

Nino Cerruti lives with his longtime female companion and has a son, Julian.

New Designers and Retirement

In 1964-1970 already, Giorgio Armani - who was to found his own eponymous fashion empire in 1974 - had worked for Cerruti at Hitman. But Nino Cerrtuti had always been the chief designer.

In October 2000, in an effort to secure global expansion, Nino Cerruti sold 51% of his company to Fin.Part, an Italian industrial group, that would less than a year later buy the rest of the company and force Mr. Cerruti out after irreconcilable differences at age 71. "There was a perpetual conflict of interest", Cerruti said later. Hence, the Spring Summer 2002 collection marked the end of Cerruti being designed by Nino Cerruti.

By 2004, the company was in a deep crisis and restructuring plans proved unsuccessful. Fin.part declared bankruptcy in 2005. Consequently, Cerruti 1881 was put in pawn. In August 2006, after an unsuccessful takeover attempt by another Italian menswear manufacturer - Manifattura Paolini - in 2005, Cerruti finally was sold to US private equity firm MatlinPatterson. Nicolas Andreas Taralis, a former designer with Dior Homme who also owns his signature fashion label, was appointed creative director. MatlinPatterson intends to revitalize the Cerruti brand.

Mr. Cerruti himself has concentrated on the family-owned textile mill business in Biella since his departure. In 2004, Lanificio F.lli Cerruti bought the Italian furniture design company Baleri.

Cerruti stores

Cerruti stores and franchise stores existed/exist in Milan, Cosenza, Madrid, London, Munich, Stockholm, Athens, Birmingham, Riyadh, Moscow, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo among other locations. In addition, the label was sold through some 1,500 vendors.

Discount Designer Perfumes

Several perfume lines and colognes are/were manufactured by Coty, Inc. and distributed under the Cerruti label:

• 1978 Nino Cerruti (M)
• 1985 Fair Play (M)
• 1987 Nino Cerruti pour femme (W)
• 1990 Cerruti 1881 (M)
• 1995 Cerruti 1881 (W)
• 1998 Cerruti Image (W)
• 2000 Cerruti Image (M)
• 2002 Cerruti 1881 Amber (M)
• 2003 Cerruti 1881 Eau d'Ete (W)
• 2004 CerrutiSí (M)
• 2006 Cerruti 1881 Black (M))
• 2006 Cerruti 1881 pour femme Blanc (W)

Awards

• Bath Museum of Costume Dress of the Year award, England, 1978;
• Munich Fashion Week Award, 1981;
• Cutty Sark award, 1982, 1988;
• Pitti Uomo award, Italy, 1986.

Trivia

• Nino Cerruti and his female companion bought an apartment in Hamburg as their private residence. Cerruti also has residences in Paris and Biella.
• When asked in 2005 if it had been smart to sell his name, Mr. Cerruti responded: "No, it was dumb - dumb of Fin.Part which paid a lot of money for that name and now the Cerruti brand has been put in pawnn."
• Mr. Cerruti was a member of the jury at the 55. Berlinale film festival in 2005.
• Cerruti is well known for furnishing the movie industry. The most renowned film appearances of Cerruti designs can be found in the Hollywood blockbusters The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Philadelphia (1993) and Pretty Woman where, Richard Gere and Julia Roberts wear Cerruti fashions, as well as American Psycho. Cerruti was also the outfitter for the Miami Vice TV series in the late 1980s, among many more.
• According to imdb.com, Mr. Cerruti had cameo appearances in the following Hollywood movies: Holy Man (1998), Catwalk (1996) and Cannes Man (1996).
• Nino Cerruti, who quit his studies of political science after his father’s untimely death, once said he would have preferred to become a journalist. He once was co-publisher of an Italian magazine named L’Espresso.
• Nino Cerruti’s trademark was a yellow sweater that he would wear casually around his shoulders at when he appeared on the catwalk at the end of his fashion shows.
• The fashion company's web sites (cerruti.com and cerruti.net) have been taken offline. The web site addresses now apparently belong to domain companies.