Cerruti

Cerruti was founded in Paris in 1967 by Nino Cerruti, connecting Italian textile knowledge with a new approach to men’s ready-to-wear. The name Cerruti 1881 refers to the wool mill established by his grandfather, Antonio Cerruti, in Biella. Cloth was therefore part of the house’s identity before it became a fashion label.

Nino took over the family textile business in 1950 and founded the menswear company Hitman in 1957. Opening his Paris boutique on Place de la Madeleine a decade later gave that experience a different setting. His approach made tailoring more responsive to movement and daily life, loosening the relationship between a suit and formal occasion.

The house became associated with a masculine wardrobe in which fabric and ease mattered as much as construction. Jackets and trousers could retain their shape while allowing the wearer to look at home in them. Sportswear extended that idea beyond the suit. Giorgio Armani also worked with Cerruti before establishing his own namesake house, making the business an important setting in the history of Italian menswear.

Later creative leadership brought new interpretations of the founder’s work. Daniel Kearns was appointed chief creative officer in 2023, returning attention to the house’s wardrobe as a whole. Cerruti’s enduring contribution to menswear lies in treating Italian cloth and Parisian ready-to-wear as complementary traditions, with comfort built into the idea of elegance.