Latest news with #Berluti
Fashion Network
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Berluti's CEO Jean-Marc Mansvelt staying focused on what it does best
All about focusing on legacy this season at Berluti, the only brand in menswear that boasts bespoke footwear and tailoring departments. And, as its latest swish storytelling makes clear, the brand remains smartly anchored to its origins, as the maker of the finest footwear for gents in France. Founded in 1895, Berluti forged its reputation in the 60's when stars like Yves Saint Laurent, Andy Warhol and Marlene Dietrich became huge fans. After being acquired by LVMH in 1993, it began developing ready-to-wear in 2011 designed by three very respected menswear talents: Alessandro Sartori, Haider Ackermann and Kris Van Assche. These days, though devoid of a creative director, the house has been smart enough to exploit the best of each designers' legacy, as its latest presentation underlined. Staged inside the very elegant Simone et Cino Del Duca Fondation, a mansion on Parc Monceau, where one room was given over to the Shadow, a posh techy sneaker invented by Van Assche. Guests had to love that installation, a play on René Magritte with a poster reading "Ceci n'est pas une Charentaise", referring to the much-loved French slippers, with cut out gents reposed wearing the Shadow. 'With all of us expected to march steps 10,000 daily, we have lightened up the Shadow, our latest versions are the weight of an iPhone lighter than the originals,' smiled Berluti's cerebral CEO. Adding anti-slip grip, added flexibility and footprint memory, the Shadow is seriously good performance wise. Produced in heat-reducing cooling knit, linen or cashmere it are also thoroughly stylish. While Sartori's legacy is apparent in the Mont Thabor, an updated version of a college loafer he develop that features an elongated nose for day, a sleek glove line for evening. The shoe is named after the location of the very first Berluti store on rue Mont Thabor and is the basis of one of five tableaux on the mansion's top floor. Two other tableaux feature brand new shoes, the Alessandro 1895, created from a single piece of leather, and finished with the signature three lace holes and the house's special patina. Close by is the debut Far Ninete, a cunning new super soft shoe that's light yet finished with practical studs. Finally, there's a fresh take on the Stella, a diamond-shaped sturdy sneaker, where they reined in the angularity and upped the Venetian patina, most spectacularly in Imperial Roman purple. 'We like to take something from all the legacy, from Alessandro and Kris and from Olga,' he noted, referring to the scion of the founding family. In terms of ready-to-wear, each stand featured a Forestier, a high-neck lapel-free jacket that Berluti perfected, while a new selection of silky seersucker windowpane jackets looked excellent. 'We are concentrating on our icons. Though opening up the way you way wear them,' explained Jean Marc. He won't reveal annual sales, which industry estimates place at around €150 million. But notes that the band 'is a growing business. And compared to the average we are doing much better. And it's a profitable brand.' 'Our DNA is savoir faire, singularity and having a strong point of view. Like when Olga launched the Deux Jours (bag concept). When we were at Vuitton, we said, 'what the?' And I won't use the same word as Mr. Trump the other day. But what a statement idea,' he chuckles. This season, the house also presented subtle new acquarelle (or watercolor) leather, where the calfskin has a certain suggestion of brush strokes. Seen in some natty jerkins and blousons, finished with Berluti breast-pocket zip. Talk about haute-cult menswear. 'We celebrate the fact that people invest in our Berluti products. Which is why we wanted to show that any of our shoes or sneakers can be worn with lots of outfits in many different contexts,' underlined Mansvelt. Berluti makes all its own footwear in its own plant in Ferrara, near Bologna, that employs 400 people. Sourcing its leather from multiple tanneries, some even owned by LVMH. It's an area of expertise for Mansvelt, who was head of leather goods at Louis Vuitton for a decade. 'The shoe is the foundation of our maison, and it's also the foundation of our silhouette,' the CEO concluded. Very much a very retail driven business, Berluti counts 65 fully owned boutiques, in malls, department stores on the street. Plus, 10 franchise stores, and just a few wholesale clients like Bergdorf Goodman. In the recent past, they have consolidated the chain, and carried out 'touch-ups like in Ginza, or a full revamp, like a new complete renovation in IFC Pudong, the number-one mall in China,' he noted. "Using a new concept that emphasizes an easier, clearer approach that is easier and clearer for our clients. Brighter and more open." Like in a new store, due to open in mid-March 2026 in the mall in Abu Dhabi, with design created in-house. Fifteen years ago, Berluti invested an estimated €200 in ramping up the brand and opening top location stores. When Gwenael Nicolas, architect from the firm Curiosity, did most of the early Berluti store design. 'When it comes to customers, we monitor them a lot within LVMH. And I am happy say that the level of loyalty, passion and attachment to this maison is exceptional. When you put them all together all - the fashion and leather goods houses in our group, including the monsters. - we are better compared to all of them when it comes to frequency, loyalty and level of purchase,' he beamed. Creatively, Berluti has three teams for shoes, leather goods and fashion, based in the house's Faubourg St. Honoré headquarters. The sheer quality of Berluti's raw materials they get to work with was highlighted by a room full of raw and treated skins – from silky papery leather to a grainy rawhide one had to love. Though one always returns to the foot at Berluti, which the house recognizes, seeing as the first room of this polished presentation was one giant, two-meter-long white foot, large enough like a Roman emperor in the Roman Forum.
Fashion Network
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Berluti's CEO Jean-Marc Mansvelt staying focused on what it does best
All about focusing on legacy this season at Berluti, the only brand in menswear that boasts bespoke footwear and tailoring departments. And, as its latest swish storytelling makes clear, the brand remains smartly anchored to its origins, as the maker of the finest footwear for gents in France. Founded in 1895, Berluti forged its reputation in the 60's when stars like Yves Saint Laurent, Andy Warhol and Marlene Dietrich became huge fans. After being acquired by LVMH in 1993, it began developing ready-to-wear in 2011 designed by three very respected menswear talents: Alessandro Sartori, Haider Ackermann and Kris Van Assche. These days, though devoid of a creative director, the house has been smart enough to exploit the best of each designers' legacy, as its latest presentation underlined. Staged inside the very elegant Simone et Cino Del Duca Fondation, a mansion on Parc Monceau, where one room was given over to the Shadow, a posh techy sneaker invented by Van Assche. Guests had to love that installation, a play on René Magritte with a poster reading "Ceci n'est pas une Charentaise", referring to the much-loved French slippers, with cut out gents reposed wearing the Shadow. 'With all of us expected to march steps 10,000 daily, we have lightened up the Shadow, our latest versions are the weight of an iPhone lighter than the originals,' smiled Berluti's cerebral CEO. Adding anti-slip grip, added flexibility and footprint memory, the Shadow is seriously good performance wise. Produced in heat-reducing cooling knit, linen or cashmere it are also thoroughly stylish. While Sartori's legacy is apparent in the Mont Thabor, an updated version of a college loafer he develop that features an elongated nose for day, a sleek glove line for evening. The shoe is named after the location of the very first Berluti store on rue Mont Thabor and is the basis of one of five tableaux on the mansion's top floor. Two other tableaux feature brand new shoes, the Alessandro 1895, created from a single piece of leather, and finished with the signature three lace holes and the house's special patina. Close by is the debut Far Ninete, a cunning new super soft shoe that's light yet finished with practical studs. Finally, there's a fresh take on the Stella, a diamond-shaped sturdy sneaker, where they reined in the angularity and upped the Venetian patina, most spectacularly in Imperial Roman purple. 'We like to take something from all the legacy, from Alessandro and Kris and from Olga,' he noted, referring to the scion of the founding family. In terms of ready-to-wear, each stand featured a Forestier, a high-neck lapel-free jacket that Berluti perfected, while a new selection of silky seersucker windowpane jackets looked excellent. 'We are concentrating on our icons. Though opening up the way you way wear them,' explained Jean Marc. He won't reveal annual sales, which industry estimates place at around €150 million. But notes that the band 'is a growing business. And compared to the average we are doing much better. And it's a profitable brand.' 'Our DNA is savoir faire, singularity and having a strong point of view. Like when Olga launched the Deux Jours (bag concept). When we were at Vuitton, we said, 'what the?' And I won't use the same word as Mr. Trump the other day. But what a statement idea,' he chuckles. This season the house also presented subtle new acquarelle, or watercolor, leather where the calfskin has a certain suggestion of brush strokes. Seen in some natty jerkins and blousons, finished with Berluti breast-pocket zip. Talk about haute-cult menswear. 'We celebrate the fact that people invest in our Berluti products. Which is why we wanted to show that any of our shoes or sneakers can be worn with lots of outfits in many different contexts,' underlined Mansvelt. Berluti makes all its own footwear in its own plant in Ferrara, near Bologna, that employs 400 people. Sourcing its leather from multiple tanneries, some even owned by LVMH. It's an area of expertise for Mansvelt, who was head of leather goods at Louis Vuitton for a decade. 'The shoe is the foundation of our maison, and it's also the foundation of our silhouette,' the CEO concluded. Very much a very retail driven business, Berluti counts 65 fully owned boutiques, in malls, department stores on the street. Plus, 10 franchise stores, and just a few wholesale clients like Bergdorf Goodman. In the recent past, they have consolidated the chain, and carried out 'touch-ups like in Ginza, or a full revamp, like a new complete renovation in IFC Pudong, the number one mall in China,' he noted. Using a new concept that emphasizes an easier clearer approach that is easier and clearer for our clients. Brighter and more open. Like in a new store, due to open in mid-March 2026 in the mall in Abu Dhabi, with design created in-house. Fifteen years ago, Berluti invested an estimated €200 in ramping up the brand and opening top location stores. When Gwenael Nicolas, architect from the firm Curiosity, did most of the early Berluti store design. 'When it comes to customers, we monitor them a lot within LVMH. And I am happy say that the level of loyalty, passion and attachment to this maison is exceptional. When you put them all together all - the fashion and leather goods houses in our group, including the monsters. - we are better compared to all of them when it comes to frequency, loyalty and level of purchase,' he beamed. Creatively, Berluti has three teams for shoes, leather goods and fashion, based in the house's Faubourg St. Honoré headquarters. The sheer quality of Berluti's raw materials they get to work with was highlighted by a room full of raw and treated skins – from silky papery leather to a grainy rawhide one had to love. Though one always returns to the foot at Berluti, which the house recognizes - seeing as the first room of this polished presentation is one giant, two-meter-long white foot, large enough like a Roman emperor in the Roman Forum.
Vogue
25-06-2025
- Business
- Vogue
Berluti Spring 2026 Menswear Collection
Stepping forward, said Berluti CEO Jean-Marc Mansvelt this morning, the focus at these Berluti presentations is: 'to do less things, but to really cultivate season after season what for us are the most important.' And at Berluti, of course, it is shoes that are the most important category of all. To underline this, the first room in today's presentation was dominated by a giant reproduction of a marble foot surrounded by fittings sketches. As light as that foot looked heavy was the new Far Niente, a square-nosed suede slipper shoe with gommino soles that looked like the hybrid of a driving shoe and 19th century soccer boot. There was a room dedicated to the slip-on Shadow sneaker, Berluti's best-seller, that highlighted a new grippier sole construction and four new formulations of knitted upper, including cashmere and linen, each of which was designed for different functionalities. Other footwear emphases included handsome new versions of the angled-toe Stellar sneaker and a supple new version of the Alessandro oxford. Bags are the second core category at Berluti. New proposals today included a paperback sized sundries bag named the Jour de Poche that was available in multiple varieties of the company's signature high patina leather. Berluti has rather turned its heel on clothing in order to focus on the entirely rational strategy laid out by Mansvelt. The exceptions to that, however, are in outerwear: today there were fresh versions of the Forestiere (whose beautiful history was laid out in last season's review) in zestily toned silk-lined linen and what felt like a cashmere-shot shades-of-gray tweed. There were also blousons and a short parka in painstakingly l'aquarelle shadowed leather.
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Vogue
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
I Spent Three Days In The Desert With Haider Ackermann, And Time Stood Still
It's dawn in the middle of the Utah desert, and Haider Ackermann and I are sitting in canvas chairs, watching the light bathe the red plains gold and illuminate the vast rock formations that punctuate the horizon. I am in my nightdress; he is wearing a T-shirt beneath a yellow silk robe, his slippers threadbare from dancing all night under the stars. I have come to understand this as his morning wardrobe: every day that we have spent here, he has woken at dawn, thrown on something unimaginably chic, and sat silhouetted, silent, against the landscape while his coterie of guests emerge from their tents (I, too excited to sleep, have unexpectedly been the first to rise from mine). In the midst of this vast expanse, we couldn't feel further from anything – certainly from the caviar-laden baked potatoes and high-octane shows of fashion week, which is where I'm most used to finding him. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. 'This is luxury,' Ackermann says, with a smile. 'When you are so far away from home, you are so much closer to yourself. Time stands still.' Olivia Singer. @benjaminrosser Kai-Isaiah Jamal. @benjaminrosser We are here, in the middle of nowhere, to mark the arrival of his new Snow Goose collection for Canada Goose – the second under his tenure at the brand. When, last year, Ackermann was appointed as its creative director, it appeared as left-field a decision as inviting 15 people to a landlocked desert. His most recent project had been a couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier, where his laser-focused grace earned him a spot at the top of industry gossip lists for myriad luxury house vacancies. His previous roles, both at his namesake brand and Berluti, saw him renowned for his languid drapery and exquisite elegance. Canada Goose, meanwhile, is most famous for its rugged outdoorswear, so the two weren't necessarily an obvious fit. 'I needed to take a road which was not my direct road,' Ackermann, who 'never owned a puffer before', explains. 'Because, sometimes, those are the most beautiful ones. The fact that they trusted me with this responsibility, I was very intrigued. It was seductive.' Ackermann describes what has manifested since as a love affair, partially informed by an upbringing spent travelling the world, from Europe to Africa, with his cartographer father, and partially by the Canada Goose archives. It's a dalliance that, despite his appointment as the creative director at Tom Ford just months after his announcement at Canada Goose, shows no signs of waning. 'I feel like a kid, full of enthusiasm,' he says. 'This is just the beginning. And perhaps the fact that I'm seeing it all through innocent eyes helps.' 'What Ackermann is trying to do with his appointment at Canada Goose is simply immerse people into the world at large.' @benjaminrosser 'It feels more like we've all formed a commune than embarked on a Canada Goose expedition.' @benjaminrosser The past days have been drenched in that spirit: helicopter rides to the peak of sacred rocks 1,611 metres above sea level; jumping into the lush rivers we discover between canyons; horse riding through the plains at sunset. Our Navajo guide, storyteller Eli Secody, teaches us about the stars and the fire and the land he and his people have inhabited since time immemorial. At one point, he speaks so profoundly that, one by one, everyone in our circle begins to cry, then hug each other. Among our exploratory collective are artists, writers, curators, photographers. In fact, Ackermann discreetly explained that the invitation list was based on friendship and vibes rather than social media following; mine came because of a chance encounter between the two of us last summer in the middle of British Columbia – me, fresh out a kayak, he exploring the wilderness with his partner, a tent on the roof of their van. Our post-trip WhatsApp group is filled with effusive messages of gratitude and promises to all holiday together again. It feels more like we've all formed a commune than embarked on a Canada Goose expedition. Whereas usually, travelling with a fashion brand incorporates an immersion into its world alongside a coach-load of press – and certainly no shared bathrooms – what Ackermann is trying to do with his appointment at Canada Goose is simply immerse people into the world at large. 'I had this idea just to share these moments with people; with old friends and new friends,' he explains. 'It's all about togetherness. I think it's really, really important nowadays – more than ever.' 'Our Navajo guide, storyteller Eli Secody.' @benjaminrosser 'Trail riding through the plains.' @benjaminrosser There's a generous assortment of his new Snow Goose collection assembled in each of our tents: water-resistant, lime-green hot pants well-suited to the desert heatwave; khaki parkas fit for helicoptering; jogging pants for when we gather late at night by the firepits. Unprompted, everyone integrates the pieces into their wardrobes. Some roll their shorts shorter still; others knot and layer their sky-blue tees (bearing phrases like 'can you hear the birds?') underneath their own outerwear; and everyone becomes besotted with the hiking boots, which feel light even in 40 degree heat. The collection is curiously compelling – the socks come in unexpected pastels; the parka shells in lime neon; the trousers unzip into hot pants – and, even more curiously for an outdoors brand, it's sexy. 'I wanted to reach warm places, not only to keep you warm in the cold ones,' says Ackermann. 'I want it to be playful; sexy. Outerwear is always so serious.'
Fashion Network
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Kris Van Assche debuts in home decor with Serax
, the noted former designer of Dior and Berluti, has made a new career move, launching into home decor with Serax. The renowned Belgian designer has teamed up with Serax to create The Josephine Collection, an impressive series of vases and candy jars named in tribute to his beloved grandmother, Josephine. 'It was she who passed on to me, in addition to her love of fashion, her love of sumptuous tables,' explained Van Assche in a release. 'She always said that making an effort with her appearance and preparing a beautiful table was simply another mark of politeness,' Van Assche added. After graduation, Van Assche began his career at Yves Saint Laurent before quickly joining the Dior Homme studio, where he spent four years. In 2004, Van Assche founded his own eponymous label, primarily dedicated to men's fashion. In 2007, he succeeded his mentor, Hedi Slimane, as artistic director of Dior Homme. After a decade at Dior, in 2018, he was appointed artistic director at Berluti, an icon of leather goods and footwear — all the while paying tribute to the brand's exceptional savoir-faire while steering Berluti toward a more contemporary style. Since Berluti, Van Assche has also designed kidswear collections for Balabala. Meanwhile, Belgium-based Serax has collaborated with creatives such as Ann Demeulemeester, Kelly Wearstler, Marie Michielssen, Marni, Ottolenghi, Paola Navone, Piet Boon, Sergio Herman and Vincent Van Duysen. With Serax, he harks back to his granny Josephine, who saw flowers as an essential element of an elegantly decorated interior — a vision she passed on to her grandson. 'If you look at the 55 collections I've designed over the past twenty years, it's clear that flowers occupy a central place,' underlined Van Assche. 'Flowers are like fashion: they're not an absolute necessity, but they make life more beautiful,' he concluded. Although the beauty of classical objects inspires the collection, Van Assche brings his own modern vision to them. For example, the foot, traditionally round, here takes on a rectangular shape — a subtle detail, but one with impact. The classic style of vases and candy boxes has also been modernized through the use of materials such as concrete, marble and even silver porcelain.
