Ami Paris

Ami was founded in Paris in 2011 by Alexandre Mattiussi. The name means “friend” in French and nods to the founder’s initials. Mattiussi studied at the École Duperré before working at Dior Homme’s 30 Montaigne line, Givenchy as first assistant for men, and Marc Jacobs.

The proposition was straightforward. Mattiussi wanted a wardrobe he would dress his own friends in. As Business of Fashion noted, Ami was founded on the principle of Mattiussi dressing his friends, and was not intended as direct competition to his prior employers. That framing stuck, and the brand was widely described in its early years as approachable French menswear, a contrast to the harder silhouettes coming out of the houses where Mattiussi had trained.

Menswear was the starting point and remained the core of the business for almost a decade before womenswear arrived. The label became known for boxy outerwear, slouchy suiting, logo crewnecks, and playful proportions, blending classic French tailoring with streetwear sensibility.

The vocabulary is specific. Wool topcoats sit on relaxed shoulders. Cotton-twill blazers pair with sneakers. Chunky knits bear the small red heart of the Ami de Cœur line.

Culturally, the brand sat alongside contemporaries like Acne Studios and A.P.C., French and Scandinavian labels working a similar territory between tailoring and casual wear. As Angelo Flaccavento observed for BoF, while Acne Studios mounted a counter-current, Ami stuck to bourgeois nonchalance.

Recognition came early. In 2013, Mattiussi received the ANDAM Fashion Award. In 2016, he became a member of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.

The business scaled quickly after that. In 2019, Ami launched womenswear. In 2021, Sequoia Capital China acquired a controlling stake. By that point, Ami had expanded to more than 60 stores and more than 700 points of sale across New York, China, and Japan.

The financial trajectory followed. According to the Financial Times, revenue grew from €35 million in 2019 to €300 million for the year ending March 2023. Mattiussi has stayed in the creative role throughout.

In February 2025, Ami opened a new flagship in Paris’ Marais district at 96 rue de Turenne, described as the brand’s largest store in the world. Today, the label sits in the contemporary tier of the Paris market, dressing a customer who wants French tailoring codes in a softer, more casual mode.

It sells through its own boutiques and through stockists including Selfridges, 10 Corso Como, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Womenswear, introduced only a few years ago, already accounts for 15 percent of sales, a sign that the menswear identity still does most of the work of defining what Ami is.