Italian menswear innovator Nino Cerruti dies at 91

MILAN – Nino Cerruti, the Italian manner decorator credited with revolutionizing menswear successful the 1960s and who gave Giorgio Armani his archetypal manner break, has died, Italian media reported Saturday. He was 91.

Cerruti died successful northwestern Italy, wherever his household has operated a textile institution since 1881, the Italian quality bureau LaPresse reported. The Italian regular Corriere said helium had been hospitalized for hep surgery.

Cerutti inherited the household business, based successful the metropolis of Biella successful the Piedmont region, astatine property 20 upon his father’s decease successful 1950. He launched his archetypal menswear company, Hitman, successful 1957 adjacent Milan, dedicated to creating sartorial elegance connected an concern standard and becoming portion of the nascent men’s ready-to-wear sector.

Armani was hired arsenic a young endowment astatine the Hitman mill successful the mid-1960s.

Armani recalled Cerruti arsenic a originative entrepreneur with “an acute eye, a existent curiosity, the quality to dare,’’ adding that “his gentle mode of being authoritative, adjacent authoritarian" would beryllium missed.

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“Even if our contacts thinned with the years, I person ever considered him 1 of the radical who has had a existent and affirmative power connected my life,’’ Armani said successful a statement. “From him, I learned not lone the sensation for sartorial softness, but besides the value of a well-rounded vision, arsenic a decorator and arsenic an entrepreneur.”

In 1967, Cerruti founded the luxury menswear manner location Cerruti 1881 successful Paris, past the planetary manner capital, portion maintaining accumulation successful Italy. The softened silhouette, usage of colors and the attraction to some innovative plan and contented won clients similar French movie prima Jean-Paul Belmondo.

Soon, Cerruti was successful request successful Hollywood, with his designs worn connected and disconnected surface by specified stars arsenic Michael Douglas successful “Basic Instinct,” Richard Gere successful “Pretty Woman, and Tom Hanks successful ”Philadelphia."

Cerutti besides launched a womenswear enactment arsenic good arsenic perfumes, watches, accessories and leather goods. He besides astatine 1 constituent was the decorator for the Ferrari Formula 1 team.

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Cerruti sold the institution successful the aboriginal 2000s, giving up besides the plan role. But helium ne'er severed ties with the manner house, adjacent arsenic helium turned his absorption to the textile business, taking a front-row spot astatine Paris runway shows.

News of his decease dispersed done the manner satellite during Milan Fashion Week menswear previews.

Carlo Capasa, president of Italy’s manner chamber, remembered Cerruti arsenic “a large innovator” who was besides “one of Italy’s chicest men.”

“He was the archetypal to recognize the value of creativity successful menswear and to springiness abstraction to a young decorator of immense endowment similar Giorgio Armani, changing the precise criteria of however to dress,’’ Capasa said. “He was 1 of the archetypal to person a beardown planetary presence, representing to the satellite that unsocial operation of creativity and prime that came to qualify and inactive characterizes Italian fashion.”

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