Articles on Loro Piana
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When one thinks of high fashion, one automatically thinks of very stern-looking, sleek and restricting clothing. High fashion is characterized by expert tailoring, which oftentimes looks better than it feels, especially for the wearer. A lot of the most famous silhouettes in fashion through the years are very constricting, from Christian Dior’s “New Look”, Giorgio Armani’s big shoulders, and Hedi Slimane’s sleek menswear. Very rarely does comfort become a huge factor in high fashion clothes, unless the label is focused primarily on sportswear. However, there is one brand that has achieved high fashion status but is known for their comfortable pieces: Loro Piana.
The Italian brand is known for producing pieces made with some of the finest materials known to man. Specializing in cashmere and wool, the Piana family built an empire where comfort is the most important factor. Although the company is Italian, which means fine tailoring is also a forte, their clothes are still some of the most comfortable garments in the entire fashion industry. Here, you not only get a well-cut suit but an envelope of luxurious fabrics hugging your body, making you feel even better than you look. No other fashion house has this kind of focus to comfort quite like Loro Piana.
A Family Legacy
Like with any other Italian luxury brand, Loro Piana is a family-owned business. It was founded all the way back in the 1800’s, starting out as a textile manufacturer. By 1924, Pietro, the founder of the current company, opened a wool mill and named it after the family name. The company soon became a prominent fixture in the textiles industry, importing fiber and yarn from the most exotic locations, and exporting them to various first-world countries. By the 1940’s, they became the premier source of fabrics for many businesses, including the haute couture houses in Paris and the other luxury goods brands in Italy.
In the 1970’s, brothers Pier Luigi and Sergio joined the company, further expanding the business. From mere suppliers of textiles and fabrics, the label branched out into making and selling their own products, beginning with a ready-to-wear line. They began offering ready-made pieces as well as a bespoke service to tailor suits and dresses for their high-profile clients. By the end of the 20th century, the brand became one of the most prominent fashion luxury goods labels in Italy, rivalling Armani and Prada. For their part, Sergio took charge in leading the luxury goods division while Pier Luigi continued on the family tradition of overseeing fabric manufacturing.
Expansion through LVMH
For many years, the Loro Piana brother lead the family empire, making the brand a key player in both the luxury goods and fashion game. In 2013, the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, bought 80% of the shares of the brand for a whopping €2 billion. The remaining 20% stayed with the Loro Piana brothers. On December of that same year, Sergio passed away, leading his brother, Pier Luigi, to lessen the percent of the family’s shares to 15%. Antoine Arnault, son of LVMH founder Bernard Arnault, would become the new chairperson of the company.
Like many of the conglomerate’s brands, Loro Piana expanded exponentially under LVMH. They are now sold in over 132 stores worldwide, across all six continents. Prominent retailers such as Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and Saks Fifth Avenue from New York all carry and sell pieces from the famed Italian fashion label. Online, one can also buy Loro Piana from Net-A-Porter and MyTheresa.com, two of the biggest e-commerce sites for fashion and luxury goods. They also still produce the some of the finest textiles coming from Italy, supplying over 5 million meters of fabric to various business, fashion brands, and fellow luxury goods labels.
The Brand in the Limelight
Apart from the very rich and the very elite, the very famous have also become fans of the luxury label. Many actors, singers, and various other media personalities have been spotted wearing pieces from the brand. Such admirers include actresses Angelina Jolie and Sofia Vergara, actors Brad Pitt and Martin Freeman, as well as singers Mariah Carey and James Blunt and model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Even the members of Royalty have worn the label in many royal events, particularly the Duchess of Cambridge, or more commonly referred to as Kate Middleton, who has also sported attire from the brand in more informal sightings.
Today, Loro Piana stands proud as one of the finest in both textile manufacturing and producing high-quality luxury pieces. No other label in the world boasts accolades of such calibre, and have helped other brands produce their own quality items as well. Although they may not be as well-known or mainstream as the likes of Gucci and Prada, their significance in the world of fashion and luxury goods will always be a badge of honor in of itself.
