Etro
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Founder | Gimmo Etro |
| Headquarters | , Italy |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, handbags, jewellery, perfumes, textiles and home furnishings. |
| Website | www |
Etro is an Italian luxury fashion house that produces ready-to-wear, shoes, jewelry, accessories, leather goods, textiles, home decor and perfumes. The company was founded in 1968 by Gimmo Etro, and it remains a family business to this day.
History
The entrepreneurial venture began in 1968, when Gerolamo "Gimmo" Etro, a world traveller educated in economics, establishes his own Prêt-à-Porter and haute couture textile company. He launched a range of fabrics using refined, natural fibres, which he embellished with original designs and innovative colourways.
The Milanese Etro Headquarters, located on Via Spartaco, were completely rennovated in 1977 in order to provide a larger space for the rapidly expanding design team.[1] The family start to collect rare books and textile art to archive in their in-house library, as the foundation of design research for future collections. [2] Jacopo Etro later commented on this period, stating that he had started to visit the archive when he was a child, spending many hours copying the fabric designs and experimenting with his own creative style.[3]
Inspired by a trip to India, the furnishing textiles line made its debut in 1981.[4] The Paisley (design) motif used to enrich the first collection was set to form the brand's identity.
Leather goods were added to the product range in 1984 with a handbag and travel bag collection, crafted from Paisley Jacquard fabrics.
In 1985 Etro launched the home collection, thus consolidating the brand’s lifestyle concept. The debut collection featured soft furnishings and small accessories, from quilts to photo frames.
The Fragrances collection was launched in 1989, making it's debut in the Milanese Fragrances flagship boutique, located on Via Verri. The brand has since created over 25 different scents, the most recent additions being Rajasthan[5] and Jacquard[6].
The 1990s saw the unveiling of the first men’s and women’s prêt-à-porter collections, leading to the brand's first fashion show at Milan Fashion Week in 1996.
Family
The Etro family began using textiles and fashion as a mode of art rather than a mode of expression. Etro is identified primarily with Gimmo (born Gerolamo), the founder, but today the company is managed by his four children: Jacopo manages textiles, leather goods and the home collections, Kean is responsible the menswear collections, Ippolito is the CEO and Veronica is responsible for the women’s collections.[7]
Kean Etro is the creative director of the Etro Man collections. In his early years, he studied at Aiglon College, at Cambridge university, and Medieval history in Milan. His collections have often been inspired by his many travels around the world, through encounters with distant cultures, the collection of artistic manufacts and ancient books. Kean once described the house’s approach to design as “poetic, not aggressive”.[8] He joined the family business in 1986, taking care of the digital side. In 1990 he designed his first menswear collection, and in 1996 the first fashion show, theorizing the concept of "New Tradition".
Veronica Etro is the creative director of the Etro Woman collections. Born in Milan, she attended the Deutsche Schule before graduating from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. She subsequently reflected on her first collection for Etro being a worrying experience, with an overwhelming sense of responsibility for a large group of people and the external perceptions of the brand.[9]
Paisley
The Paisley pattern is a constant point of inspiration for Etro. The pattern is an ancient decorative feature originally from Mesopotamia where it symbolized the shoot of the date palm which represented the tree of life. The pattern was much used on precious hand-woven Indian fabrics until it later was adopted for the use on shawls of nineteenth-century women.
Etro has a collection of one hundred and fifty cashmere design shawls dating from 1810 to 1880. The collection lead to the inspiration of the Paisley pattern, commonly used in the Etro collections from 1984 to present day.
Etro continues technological exploration and experimentation with the pattern; the Cashmere_wool design is illuminated with pop hues, fossilised in lunar prints, pulverised in embroidery with crystal fragments, sectioned into small samples and coated across handbags. Each season the pattern continues to be used in the Etro designs.
Menswear
The menswear collection has been presented through a number of conceptual catwalk shows over the years. The Autumn Winter 03 collection took a vintage twist, inviting guests to take a ride on a 1937 steam train through urban Milan whilst "real-life" models walked through the cabins.[10]
References
- ^ Etro. "Timeline". Etro. Retrieved 2 april 2014.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ The Independent. "Fashion: Raison D'Etro". The Idependent. Retrieved 2 april 2014.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Marie Claire Italia. Marie Claire Italia http://www.marieclaire.it/Moda/Speciale-Marie-Claire-Accessori-storia-delle-case-di-moda/Etro-i-tessuti-l-arredamento-le-borse-i-profumi-e-la-moda. Retrieved 2 april 2014.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Vogue. "Voguepedia". Vogue. Retrieved 2 april 2014.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Vogue India. "Italians make a perfume of Rajasthan". Vogue India. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ InStyle. "Spring Fragrances". InStyle. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ Etro. "Family Portraits". Etro. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- ^ "In each neighbourhood there lies a special shop". New York Times. Retrieved 2 april 2014.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "A conversation with Veronica Etro". Vogue Italia. Retrieved 2 april 2014.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Treni, banche e fabbriche per le sfilate della moda maschile". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 2 april 2014.
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