Italo Zucchelli (born June 4, 1965 in

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

, ItalyAlexander Fury
Calvin Klein redefined American masculinity, but Italian Italo Zucchelli has brought it bang up to date
''Independent.co.uk'', 19 March 2016 is an Italian fashion designer, the Men's creative director of Calvin Klein Collection from 2004 to 2016."Calvin Klein's Francisco Costa and Italo Zucchelli: From Primetime to Auction Time." Fashion Windows, April 21, 2009 Designated by Calvin Klein to take over the men's wear in 2004, Italo Zucchelli is credited for amplifying the brand's minimalism and "Americanism".

Biography

Italo Zucchelli studied architecture in Florence for two years, and then studied design and style at

Polimoda Ente per le Arti applicate alla Moda e al Costume abbreviated as Polimoda is a private fashion school in Florence, capital of Tuscany, Italy. The school was originally founded by Shirley Goodman, the former Executive Vice President Emeritus at F ...

, graduating in 1988.Alexander Fury
Ciao, Italo: Alexander Fury Considers Italo Zucchelli’s Legacy as He Exits Calvin Klein Collection
''Vogue.com'', 2 April 2016 After working in menswear for

Jil Sander Heidemarie Jiline "Jil" Sander (; b. 27 November 1943) is a German minimalist fashion designer and the founder of the Jil Sander fashion house. Early life and education Heidemarie Jiline Sander was born in Wesselburen, Nazi Germany on 27 Novemb ...

and

Romeo Gigli Romeo Gigli (born 1949) is an Italian fashion designer who was described in the late 1980s as singlehandedly changing the course of fashion by the ''Los Angeles Times''. Early life Gigli was born in Castel Bolognese. Orphaned at the age of 18, he ...

, he received a call from Calvin Klein inviting him to work on the brand's women's collection. He worked with the team for 3 years.Italo Zucchelli on Calvin Klein Men’s
''Wwd.com'', 2 April 2015 When Calvin Klein left the company in 2004, Zucchelli was promoted to Men's Creative Director of Calvin Klein. As of February 2015, Zucchelli had organized 30 CK collection shows. In April 2016, as the company decided to assign men's and women's collections to the same designer, Italo Zucchelli left Calvin Klein.

Design style

Italo Zucchelli's first exposure to the CK brand was in 1982 with the ad of the brand displaying a young man wearing just underwear, a first at the time. Inspired by the "clean American" look of the brand's models and wears, Zucchelli continues the Calvin Klein tradition of formalwear with a slight athletic touch to it. He gives an equal attention to the design of its clothes and to the choice of models that wear them, as he says they embody the spirit of the brand.Italo Zucchelli's Decade at Calvin Klein
''Out.com'', 3 September 2013 According to him, the "Calvin Klein guy" is strong, masculine, healthy, built, good-looking: "very American". Italo Zucchelli has been often noted for using unique materials in his designs. He used foam from bicycle seats which he displayed at his 2009 show in New York. He also created a tuxedo jacket made of the synthetic rubber

Neoprene Neoprene (also polychloroprene) is a family of synthetic rubbers that are produced by polymerization of chloroprene.Werner Obrecht, Jean-Pierre Lambert, Michael Happ, Christiane Oppenheimer-Stix, John Dunn and Ralf Krüger "Rubber, 4. Emulsion R ...

. This plastic approach to the fabric has been tagged by Canadian fashion critic

Tim Blanks Tim Blanks (born ) is a Canadian-New Zealander fashion journalist, broadcaster and writer. Career Blanks is the former host of the television show ''Fashion File'', which he hosted from 1989 until 2006. He worked as editor-at-large for Style.c ...

as "sublime futurism".Pierre Alexandre de Looz
BoF Exclusive , Italo Zucchelli's Sublime Futurism — Part II
''Businessoffashion.com'', 9 February 2012 Some of his work is colorful, like the red fluorescent suit exhibited at the 2009 NY Show, or the bright-colored leggings inspired by Australian surfers and revealed in 2007. Zucchelli's 2015 fall collection was inspired by the book ''Sex and Suits'' by

Anne Hollander Anne Helen Loesser Hollander (October 16, 1930 – July 6, 2014) was an American historian whose original work provided new insights into the history of fashion and costume and their relation to the history of art."Anne Hollander", ''The Times'', ...

Awards

*2009: CFDA award

References

External links

Models.com: Italo Zucchelli
June 15, 2009 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zucchelli, Italo Italian fashion designers Living people 1965 births People from La Spezia