Most Critically Acclaimed Menswear Fashion Designers

The Italian Brands Every Man Should Accept In His Wardrobe

It would be incommunicable to understate Italy's contribution not just to menswear, but fashion in full general. The Southern European nation is a shoemaking mecca, it's one of the world's tailoring capitals and has been a global leader in luxury leather goods for centuries.

It was also the engine house for the designer clothing nail of the 1980s, and as such, is home to some of the most esteemed names in modern menswear. From razor-sharp suits and manufacture-leading haute couture to cutting-edge sportswear and material innovation, Italian brands are behind some of the most desirable clothing on the face of the world and if you're non already familiar with the best ones, yous will be before long.

Below is a compendium of Italian brands that have helped shape the menswear landscape in some style. It's by no means Encyclopedic, but it contains all the labels that we at Ape experience should be on our readers' radars. It'southward the creme de la creme, and so to speak. Or il meglio del meglio, as they say in Italy.

Ermenegildo Zegna

Traditionally a maker of textiles – it produces over 1,000 unlike cloths each year – this family firm has, more than quietly, become a benchmark in tailoring. The company pioneered ready-to-wear suiting in Italy, and has since gone on to ensure excellence by running a fully vertically integrated performance: from its ain sheep in Australia, via its mills and tailors in its homeland, it controls every stride.

Shop now at MR PORTER

Gucci

A hot contender for biggest high-fashion characterization in the world, Gucci has been at the cut edge since 1921. Having played host to artistic forces including current creative designer Alessandro Michele and the bully Tom Ford, the Florentine fashion firm has spent much of the concluding few decades remoulding the manufacture in its own image. Information technology's way's premier trendsetter and, by extension, one of the most important names in menswear today.

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Canali

Giovanni and Giacomo Canali established their eponymous label back in 1934 in Brianza. By the 1970s, the company was a specialist in outerwear – still an expanse in which it's expert – earlier expanding into all areas of menswear, with suiting at the fore. It now has thousands of employees and sells in over 100 countries, where it's Made in Italy mantra still matters.

Shop now at Flannels

Luca Faloni

You demand but take a cursory glance at Luca Faloni's garments to know where this characterization hails from. Only an Italian brand could produce clothing that fuses smart and casual and then effortlessly, and that'south earlier nosotros even get onto the quality. For the most part, all of Luca Faloni's garb is handmade in Italy, using only the finest locally sourced materials.

We're talking beautifully soft linen shirts, High-grade cashmere knitwear and pretty much everything else a human could possibly need to create a stunning capsule wardrobe.

Buy now at Luca Faloni

Stone Isle

Arguably the first brand to have the functional artful of military and workwear and develop it into contemporary garments using high-tech materials, Stone Island (and its brother make CP Company) is one of the 20th century's well-nigh influential menswear labels. Founded by Massimo Osti, driven forward by Carlo Rivetti, it has advanced the likes of woven steel, transformable clothing and garment dyeing while garnering a legion of streetwear fanatics along the way.

Shop at present at Stone Island

Brunello Cucinelli

Cucinelli is the Italian fashion designer who started out making brightly coloured cashmere sweaters and grew to become a purveyor of the minimalist, carefully coordinated, super-luxe aesthetic his namesake brand now embodies. Most pieces are still made by a network of some 2,500 or so small-scale artisinal craftspeople beyond Umbria and Tuscany, ensuring the highest quality standards. Growing up in a peasant farming family, such was his insistence on properly pressed trousers that he won his nickname, "The Lord".

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Giorgio Armani

Better known, of course, equally one of the biggest "designer" brands in Italian fashion, Giorgio Armani deserves special mention for the sheer weight of the impact he'due south had on menswear. It was Armani who deconstructed men's tailoring, who first played with its proportions, underscored the classic menswear palette and styled some of the most iconic motion-picture show wardrobes to boot, from American Gigolo to The Untouchables. He's yet going strong too…

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Prada

Now ane of the well-nigh iconic names in style, Prada began life as so many high-style houses do, past crafting luxury leather appurtenances for the upper classes. Fast forward to present 24-hour interval and the collections have expanded to include everything from tailoring to logo T-shirts, although footwear and leather numberless are yet the label's primary pull.

Designs are typically sleek and understated with make clean lines and restrained branding. That said, don't be surprised to find the odd retina-burning print on a camp-neckband shirt hither and there when the summer collections country.

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Boglioli

Fit, quality and fabric: the holy trinity of menswear and three qualities that Boglioli embodies wholeheartedly in every single garment. Still, the same could be said for many similar brands within the coincidental tailoring niche, but what actually sets this Italian characterization apart is its unique take on classic pieces.

Boglioli was arguably the first brand to look at a blazer through a sportswear lens, experimenting with unstructured cuts, garment dyeing and pre-washing for a more relaxed, lived-in look. The effect was a style that has become an integral role of gimmicky menswear, bridging the gap betwixt smart and coincidental.

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Brioni

Brioni bankrupt into the limelight past outfitting the Pierce Brosnan-era James Bond. But, of form, the Roman tailor had an established reputation since its foundation by Nazareno Fonticoli and Gaetano Savini in 1945. Brioni staged the outset always menswear catwalk show, in 1952, and is said to have invented the trunk evidence (a kind of travelling showcase). Simply its heart has always been in classical tailoring rather than seasonal trends.

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Velasca

The Velasca story is 1 of craftsmanship, innovation and finding the sweet spot betwixt exorbitantly-priced high-end luxury and the inexpensive, poor quality offering of fast way. From humble ancestry in the small Italian city of Montegranaro to a worldwide luxury footwear brand, Velasca are the get to for a fine quality pair of Italian-fabricated shoes straight from the artisan to your feet.

Shop at present at Velasca

Borsalino

Rome many not be brusque of quality hatmakers, simply in that location'due south only i king: Borsalino. Having recently turned 160, the make was passed from the founding brothers, Alessandro and Lazzaro, to son, then to nephew. But mayhap it is more famous names than the family unit name that has kept Borsalino in the limelight. Amid many others, the "Borsalino" – its patented version of a felt fedora – was worn by Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca and Harrison Ford equally Indiana Jones. It even had a cult French new moving ridge detective film named after it.

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Stefano Ricci

Look to oligarchs, presidents and global CEOs and in that location'south a practiced run a risk they will be wearing Stefano Ricci (featured epitome, in a higher place). Much of Ricci's products are elementary, wearable and exactingly fabricated – suits with that enveloping Florentine flavour, cashmere sweaters, crisp shirting, all plumbing equipment that Italian bella figura sassy classicism. And some of it leans towards the flashy: platinum belt buckles, gem-encrusted cuff-links, crocodile sneakers and the like.

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Bottega Veneta

Founded in 1966 by Michele Taddei and Renxzo Zengiaro, this leathergoods and accessories label is all-time know for its "intrecciato" leather work, in which leather strips are woven to create a chequerboard pattern. Later relaunched under designer Tomas Maier as a full collection brand, information technology's to Bottega Veneta yous plough for some "stealth wealth" dressing.

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Loro Piana

Travel to Lake Inle in Burma; excerpt fibres, by hand, from lotus leaves; then weave them inside 24 hours before deterioration sets in. The result? An extremely rare, silk-similar yarn that's plush but e'er natural – just the kind of textiles Loro Piana specialises in. It'south another family firm, established 1924, that likewise made vicuna a thing, among the many super-luxe all the same discreet fabrics Loro Piana works with.

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Tod'southward

Tod's may not take invented the driving shoe – that honor falls to another Italian company, Car Shoe, which in 1963 adult a moccasin with a safety-studded sole – but information technology was Tod'south, under founder Diego Della Valle, that drove the thought forwards in the late 1970s with its signature Gommino manner. Now a fully-fledged footwear brand, Tod'southward continues to keep comfort and craftsmanship at the heart of everything it produces.

Shop at present at FarFetch

Missoni

Missoni may be another Italian brand that has latterly branched out into producing top-to-toe collections, just its celebrated specialism is knitwear – especially boldly colourful and textural designs crafted from upscale yarns like cashmere, yak, alpaca and silk blends. From intarsia to embroidery, patchwork to unusual silhouettes, Missoni does not make the kind of sweater yous're happy to introduce to moths.

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C.P. Company

It may non be every bit widely known as its younger, sportier sibling, only C.P Company laid the foundation for Rock Isle with its military-inspired designs and distinctive branding. Founded by Massimo Osti in 1971, C.P Visitor became known primarily for its outerwear. The precious stone in its crown was the Mille Miglia jacket, a motorsport-inspired design which features a pair of goggle lenses stitched into the hood and is still in product today.

Shop now at END Clothing

Fracap

The Capello family has been handcrafting traditional hiking boots in its Tuscany factory since 1908. Each pair is lovingly stitched together using the finest locally-sourced leather and shipped off to discerning customers around the world. That much has stayed the same for more than than a century. What has changed is Fracap's range, with loftier-terminate shoes and sandals now equally much a part of the business equally the boots.

Store now at END Clothing

Aspesi

If you lot oasis't heard of Aspesi, that could be downwards to the fact that the 50-yr-old label likes to maintain a low profile. Rather than expending resources on marketing and rail shows, Aspesi instead focuses all of its attention on creating what founder Alberto Aspesi calls "normal" clothes. To our minds though, "normal" doesn't quite cut it. Yes, Aspesi's garments are casual and unassuming, simply their typically Italian focus on manner and craftsmanship renders them anything only pedestrian. Call up wardrobe basics, the European way.

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Fila

From 1970s tennis courts to Premier League terraces; from uncomplicated knitwear to high-fashion collabs. Over the course of its century-plus lifespan to appointment, Fila has risen, fallen, gained cult followings, risen again and somewhen emerged as a global way phenomenon.

There aren't many brands you can pick up at your local sports shop that have also shown at Way Week, but this Italian heritage label is one of them. Admittedly, the design heads accept a lot to answer for where chunky sneakers are concerned but we're certainly not balky to a well-cut retro tracksuit when styled with a niggling panache.

Shop at present at ASOS

Barena

Inspired by the style heritage of its native Venice, Barena produces simple, well-made pieces that ooze character and quality. It'southward something the characterization has been doing since 1961, helping to crystallise that elegant mix of breezy casualwear and soft tailoring that Northern Italy has come to be known for.

Look to detect unstructured blazers next to drawstring trousers and lived-in looking tees, along with the occasional statement piece. Long story short: there are worse brands to stock an entire wardrobe with.

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Diemme

Fracap may be the oldest Italian make specialising in traditional leather hiking boots, but it'due south by no means the only i. With a list of manufacturing clients including Chanel, Gucci and Maison Margiela, Diemme produces upmarket artisanal footwear that blends progressive design with traditional styles.

Models like the Roccia Vet boot and the Marostica sneaker are instantly recognisable and have established themselves every bit cult classics. This explains why you're likely to find Diemme's footwear lining the shelves of the globe's trendiest contemporary menswear boutiques, too every bit on the feet of many an manufacture insider.

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