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Alessandro Dell'Acqua (born 21 December 1962 in Naples) [1] is an Italian fashion designer.
At 13, Dell’Acqua became a part-time apprentice for a Neapolitan dressmaker. [2] After graduating from the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples, he moved to Milan. [3]
Dell’Acqua started his career in 1995 with a knitwear line called AA Milano, which later morphed into his signature line. [4]
After working with Genny, Gilmar, Les Copains, Mariella Burani, Maska and Alma, [5] Dell’Acqua launched an eponymous line in 1996, [6] owned equally by the designer and Gianandrea Cataneo. [7] The line was licensed to Bellemaille, owned by Cataneo. [8] He presented his first prêt-à-porter collection at Milan Fashion Week in 1996 and his first men's line at Pitti in Florence in January 1998.
From around 2000, Dell’Acqua branched out into men’s wear, accessories, and fragrance; [9] licenses included Euroitalia for the designer’s fragrance, Iris for footwear and Visibilia for eyewear. [10]
For the brand's advertising campaigns, Dell’Acqua worked with various renowned photographers, including Juergen Teller (1998–1999), Miles Aldridge (2000) and Steven Klein (2001).
Besides his signature line, Dell’Acqua was appointed as creative director of Borbonese in 2000, on a three-year contract. [11] In addition, he designed the La Perla ready-to-wear line — the brand’s first — from 2002 to 2008. [12]
In 2003, the Arpels family bought 70 percent of Dell’Acqua’s business for an undisclosed sum. [13]
In 2008, Dell’Acqua launched a high-end capsule collection called Alessandro Dell’Acqua Black Dress. [14] Also in 2008, he took over as creative director at Malo, the Italian luxury knit company, and showed at Milan Fashion Week for the Spring 2009 season in September. For his first Malo collection, he used cashmere and flowing lines to create an informal but smart look. [15]
After losing the use of his name and creative control of the brand, [16] Dell’Acqua sent out a press release in June 2009 informing the press that the men's Spring-Summer 2010 and women's Pre-spring 2010 collections would be produced without his approval following creative disagreements with his production company, Cherry Grove. [17] He subsequently parted ways with his eponymous label as well as with Malo. [18] [19]
In 2010, Brioni – which had been without a single creative director for a few seasons – announced the appointment of Dell’Acqua as creative director of its women's line. [20] By 2011, Brioni ended its womenswear line as well as its contract with Dell’Acqua. [21]
Since 2010, Dell’Acqua has been operating his own label, N°21. The name comes from the designer's birthday, and it is also his lucky number. Since 2015, Italian fashion manufacturing company Gilmar has been owning 30 percent of N°21. [22] The label was initially based in Milan’s Città Studi district [23] before moving into its 16,000 sq ft (1,500 m2) headquarters in the Porta Venezia district in 2022. [24]
In addition to N°21, Dell'Acqua debuted his first collection for the knitwear brand Les Copains in 2012. [25] From 2014 to 2020, he also served as creative director for women’s wear at Rochas. [26] [27] In 2018, he designed a capsule collection for Tod's. [28]
By 2022, N°21 generated a third of its total turnover in Japan and opened its first freestanding store in Tokyo. [29]
In 2020, Dell’Acqua and fashion brand agency Tomorrow London launched a mentorship program for emerging designers; each season two brands — one Italian and one international — will be selected by Dell’Acqua who will offer them a design and collection development consultancy service, while Tomorrow will advise them in terms of production development, marketing and distribution. [30]
Sonia Rykiel was a French fashion designer and writer. She created the Poor Boy Sweater, which was featured on the cover of French Elle magazine. Her knitwear designs and new fashion techniques led her to be dubbed the "Queen of Knits". The Sonia Rykiel label was founded in 1968, upon the opening of her first store, making clothing, accessories, and fragrances. Rykiel was also a writer, and her first book was published in 1979. In 2012, Rykiel revealed that she was suffering from Parkinson's disease. She died from complications of the disease on 25 August 2016.
Brioni is an Italian menswear luxury fashion house based in Rome and specialised in sartorial ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, eyewear and fragrance, and provides a tailor-made service (Bespoke).
Berluti is a French leather maker that manufactures menswear, especially the leather finishing of calfskin, kangaroo leather and alligator skin in its production of shoes and boots. It makes leather belts, bags, and wallets, as well as bespoke and ready-to-wear garments. Established in 1895 by Italian Alessandro Berluti of Marche, Berluti is based in Paris on rue Marbeuf. The brand was bought by LVMH in 1993. The latest creative director was Kris Van Assche (2018-2021).
Proenza Schouler is a womenswear and accessories brand founded in 2002 by designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. Based in New York City, Proenza Schouler is derived from maiden names of the two designers' mothers: Proenza is the maiden name of Hernandez's mother, and Schouler is the maiden name of McCollough's mother.
Rochas is a fashion, beauty, and perfume house founded in 1925 by French designer Marcel Rochas, the first designer of 2/3-length coats and skirts with pockets and one of the two designers, along with Elsa Schiaparelli, who launched the fashion for padded shoulders in 1931. Rochas had been known primarily for its signature perfume, "Femme," which was packaged in a pink box with black lace.
Pierre Balmain S.A., trading as Balmain, is a French luxury fashion house that was founded by Pierre Balmain (1914–1982) in 1945.
Giambattista Valli is an Italian fashion designer. He is from Rome, Italy. His collections, both ready to wear and Haute couture, are presented semi-annually during Paris Fashion Week.
Nina Ricci is a fashion house founded by Maria "Nina" Ricci and her son Robert in Paris in 1932, and owned by the Spanish beauty and fashion group Puig since 1998.
Valentino S.p.A. is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1960 by Valentino Garavani and part of the Valentino Fashion Group. From October 2008, the creative director is Pierpaolo Piccioli, jointly with Maria Grazia Chiuri from 2008 to 2016. Piccioli departed Valentino in 2024. The company is headquartered in Milan, while the creative direction is in Rome. The Valentino Beauty license is held by L'Oreal.
Lanvin is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin in Paris. It is the oldest French fashion house still in operation. Since 2018, it has been a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Lanvin Group.
Dean and Dan Caten are Canadian fashion designers, radio personalities, and businessmen. They are identical twin brothers and the founders and owners of Dsquared², an Italian luxury fashion house based in Milan.
Celine is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1945 by designer Céline Vipiana. The headquarters are located at 16 rue Vivienne in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris at the Hôtel Colbert de Torcy, which has French Historic Monument classification.
Kenzo is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1970 by Japanese designer Kenzo Takada and owned by parent company LVMH.
Italy is one of the leading countries in fashion design, alongside France and the United Kingdom. Fashion has always been an important part of the country's cultural life and society, and Italians are well known for their attention to dress; la bella figura, or good appearance, retains its traditional importance.
MCM Worldwide is a luxury fashion brand originally founded in 1976 as the initialism of "Michael Cromer Munich". The brand’s signature logo-printed material, called Cognac Visetos, appears on many of its products. Its brass plate insignia is found on all heritage collection bags and most products; each brass plate is identified by a unique number at the bottom. MCM sells its products through wholesale accounts, franchises and directly operated stores.
Felipe Oliveira Baptista is a Portuguese fashion designer. He lives and works in Paris.
Malo is an Italian luxury brand of cashmere, started in Florence in 1972 by brothers Alfredo and Giacomo Canessa.
Haider Ackermann is a Colombian-born French designer of ready-to-wear fashion. He lives in Paris.
Loris Azzaro was a French-Italian fashion designer. He rose to prominence in the 1960s with his flamboyant dresses and he went on to become well known for his perfumes.
Claude Arpels Jr. is a French-American businessman, and investor who is the heir to the Van Cleef & Arpels fortune. He also owned the Italian brands Borbonese and Alessandro Dell'Acqua.
