Nino Cerruti (25 September 1930 – 15 January 2022) was an Italian businessman and stylist.
He founded his own
haute couture
''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...
house,
Cerruti, in 1967 in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. He managed the Italian family business ''Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti'', which was founded in 1881 by his grandfather.
Early life and career
Cerruti was born in
Biella
Biella (; pms, Biela; la, Bugella) is a city and ''comune'' in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the capital of the province of the same name, with a population of 44,324 as of 31 December 2017. It is located about northeast of Turin an ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, on 25 September 1930. He became the head of the family woollen business, after his father's untimely death. His grandfather had founded a
textile mill
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
in Biella in 1881 (''Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti''). 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. From 1964 to 1970,
Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer. He first gained notoriety working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expande ...
, who later founded his own eponymous fashion empire in 1974, worked for Cerruti at Hitman. 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 in
Place de la Madeleine
Madeleine may refer to:
Common meanings
*Madeleine (name), also Madeline, a feminine given name
*Madeleine (cake), a traditional sweet cake from France
*Mary Magdalene, also called the Madeleine
Arts and entertainment
* ''Madelein'' (1919 fi ...
in Paris, where Cerruti moved the company's
headquarters
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
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
Corsico
Corsico (Milanese: ) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, bordering Milan on the southwest.
Corsico received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on 22 July 1987. Corsico is ser ...
, together formed ''Fratelli Cerruti'', the Cerruti Brothers group.
Over the years, Cerruti offered womenswear and menswear, the ''Cerruti 1881''
diffusion line
A diffusion line (also known as a bridge line) is a secondary line of merchandise created by a high-end fashion house or fashion designer that retails at lower prices. These ranges are separate from a fashion house's "signature line", or principal ...
, a luxury
ready-to-wear
Ready-to-wear (or ''prêt-à-porter''; abbreviated RTW; "off-the-rack" or "off-the-peg" in casual use) is the term for ready-made garments, sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothing ...
collection named ''Cerruti Arte'', ''Cerruti Jeans'', the ''Cerruti Brothers'' business collection for men, and ''Cerruti 1881 Shapes'' for the Asian market, as well as fragrances and
accessories
Accessory may refer to:
* Accessory (legal term), a person who assists a criminal
In anatomy
* Accessory bone
* Accessory muscle
* Accessory nucleus, in anatomy, a cranial nerve nucleus
* Accessory nerve
In arts and entertainment
* Accessory ( ...
. Later the clothing lines were regrouped under the 'Cerruti 1881' name. Cerruti is known for its classic wool suits and for always having tried to match the everyday challenges its owner faced.
In 1978, the Cerruti house made an entry into the world of fine fragrance with ''Nino Cerruti pour Homme'' which was soon to be followed by ''Cerruti 1881 pour Homme'' in 1990 and ''Cerruti Image'' in 1998, among other fragrances.
In the 1980s, Cerruti began a collaboration with cinema. From ''
Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut (Champion) Barrow (March 24, 1909May 23, 1934) were an American criminal couple who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. The co ...
'', ''
Pretty Woman
''Pretty Woman'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall, from a screenplay by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and features Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy (in his final performance), La ...
'' to ''
Basic Instinct
''Basic Instinct'' is a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film follows San Francisco police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), who is investigating the brutal murder of a wealt ...
'', the brand Cerruti designed clothes for actors such as
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AF ...
,
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...
,
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
,
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...
,
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
,
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and thr ...
,
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...
,
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...
,
Al Pacino
Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...
, and
Jean Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...
. He made
cameo appearances
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
in the following
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
movies: ''
Holy Man
''Holy Man'' is a 1998 American television satirical comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Herek, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, Kelly Preston, Robert Loggia, Jon Cryer, and Eric McCormack. The film was a ...
'' (1998), ''Catwalk'' (1996), and ''Cannes Man'' (1996).
Later career and retirement
In 1994, Cerruti was the official designer of
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...
. In 1996, he named
Narciso Rodriguez
Narciso Jesus Rodriguez III (; born January 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer.
Early life and education
Rodriguez was born in Newark, New Jersey, the eldest child and only son of Cuban parents. His parents, Narciso Rodríguez Sanchez I ...
, a former
Anne Klein,
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...
, and TSE designer, to be creative director of Cerruti. The following year, he replaced Rodriguez with
Peter Speliopoulos
Peter Speliopoulos, born in 1961 in Springfield, Massachusetts, is an American fashion designer.
Life as a designer
Speliopoulos studied fashion at Parsons School of Design in New York and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, BFA in 1981. Spel ...
, a
DKNY
DKNY is a New York City–based fashion house for men and women, founded in 1984 by Donna Karan.
History
Karan worked for 15 years at Anne Klein, including 10 as its head designer. In 1984 Karan and her late husband Stephan Weiss were offered t ...
designer.
In October 2000, Cerruti sold 51% of his company to Fin.Part, an Italian industrial group. Less than a year later the group bought the rest of the company and
forced 71-year-old Nino Cerruti out of it claiming irreconcilable differences. "There was a perpetual conflict of interest", Cerruti said later. Hence, the Spring Summer 2002 collection marked the end of Cerruti fashion being designed by Nino Cerruti.
Personal life and death
Following his departure in 2000, Cerruti concentrated on the family-owned
textile mill
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
business called Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti, which is located in
Biella
Biella (; pms, Biela; la, Bugella) is a city and ''comune'' in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the capital of the province of the same name, with a population of 44,324 as of 31 December 2017. It is located about northeast of Turin an ...
. He did not cut all ties with the fashion house, and always attended the Cerruti fashion shows, seated in the front row.
Cerruti died from complications of hip surgery in
Vercelli
Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...
, on 15 January 2022, at the age of 91.
File:Logo BALERI ITALIA.gif, Logo ''Baleri Italia''
Awards
References
External links
Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti — Cerruti textile mill web presenceCerruti website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerruti, Nino
1930 births
2022 deaths
Italian businesspeople in fashion
Italian fashion designers
People from Biella
Menswear designers