A new definition of Italian luxury By Suzy Menkes
FLORENCE: He is an heir to the Fiat empire, and his impeccable wardrobe contains the Roman-tailored Caraceni suits of his late grandfather Gianni Agnelli, the Fiat industrialist. And on Wednesday, Lapo Elkann, 29, will unveil a luxury vision of his own.
ItaliaIndependent.com is a project to make luxury both personal and global. The Web site, launched in Florence this week at the start of the Pitti Uomo men’s fashion season, is known as “i.i.” Make that “eye eye.” For the first upscale offerings are glasses made of carbon that you can personalize online by choosing from four colors of frames and lenses and by adding up to five characters engraved inside or a 500- word message inside the case.
“They are personal belongings — not accessories,” says Elkann, pictured below, of goods that he plans to offer both in “a global shop window” in cyberspace and in stylish international stores from Milan’s 10 Corso Como to L’Eclaireur in Paris.
Elkann is no stranger to fashion, having been nominated to Vanity Fair’s Best Dressed List three years in succession. He is also credited with rejuvenating the aging image of Fiat. In charge of the automobile company’s brand promotion, he had a hit with Fiat sweaters carrying a vintage logo and went on to create ski wear, snowboards and licensed luggage. He has also helped to restart the iconic “Cinquecento,” the compact Fiat car that was a romantic symbol in films of the “Dolce Vita” era.
Overcoming the 2005 scandal in which his glamorous playboy reputation was tarnished by his abusing drugs with cross-dressers, Elkann is now determined to “give a step forward” to “made in Italy.”
“We have a big opportunity to do products of style and quality — and do something more — to give to the consumer unique products that are an expression of taste and lifestyles,” Elkann says. He promises that all the goods will be 100 percent Italian, “not 90 percent in China and the zipper in Italy.”
On Tuesday, a dinner will be held in a Florentine art gallery to emphasize the artistic element in the high-end goods that are now categorized as “extreme luxury.”
Using words like “passion,” “ideals” and “independence,” the budding entrepreneur defines the new venture as much by what it won’t be as what it is. He wants all the products to be “unisex,” rather than aimed at “one target”; not “fashionable,” because he does not want “to enter into the world of collections”; and not “seasonable,” but rather “evergreen.”
“With maximum humility, I want us to build products that in terms of design are the best in the world,” says Elkann. “We are working with people who have good energy and are willing to do anything to bring a product to life. And you don’t buy a brand — you buy a way of life.”
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