Etro is a family-managed Italian luxury Fashion design founded in 1968. It is mainly known for its paisley patterns, which the company started making in 1981.
History
Etro was founded in 1968 by Gerolamo "Gimmo" Etro
as a textile design company.
By the time the company was born, Gimmo and his wife, Roberta, an antiques dealer, had amassed a collection of 300 antique shawls, still one of the largest private collections in existence today.
[Alexandra Marshall (August 15, 2017), The Colorful World of Etro WSJ..] The main stylistic driver for Etro over its first decades was the paisley pattern, and variations on this theme.
The company's headquarters is located in
Milan on Via Spartaco, and was refurbished in 1977.
The headquarters includes
Textile arts archived in their in-house library.
Future textiles head 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
Creativity style.
After a trip to
India made by Etro executives, the furnishing textiles line made its debut in 1981.
The "swirling" paisley design found on this trip is now "synonymous" with the label according to
Elle Magazine.
The company began producing leather goods in 1984, crafted from Paisley Jacquard weaving fabrics.[Alexandra Marshall (August 15, 2017), The Colorful World of Etro WSJ..] making its debut in the Milanese Fragrances flagship boutique, located on Via Verri. More recent additions of the line include Rajasthan[Winters and Paul, 63.] and it began selling its clothing online in addition to in retail stores in 2013.
By 2018, Etro reported $372 million in annual revenue.[Alexandra Marshall (February 23, 2018), How An Italian Family Turned Paisley Prints And Haute-Hippe Garb Into a 50-Year-Old Fashion Legacy W] By 2021, the company operated 140 flagships in 58 countries with boutiques in cities such as Milan, London, Paris, New York, Beijing and Tokyo.[Luisa Zargani (July 18, 2021), L Catterton Takes Control of Etro Women's Wear Daily.] That year, it also took control of its South Korean business by opening a subsidiary in Seoul.[Martino Carrera (January 27, 2021), Etro Opens South Korean Subsidiary Women's Wear Daily.]
In 2021, L Catterton agreed to buy a 60% stake in Etro, in a deal valuing the company at about 500 million euros ($590 million).[Elisa Anzolin and Claudia Cristoferi (April 19, 2021), Italy's Etro is considering interest from L Catterton -source Reuters.][Silvia Aloisi (July 18, 2021), LVMH-backed fund to buy 60% of Italian fashion label Etro -sources Reuters.][Luisa Zargani (July 18, 2021), L Catterton Takes Control of Etro Women's Wear Daily.] In 2022, Etro appointed designer Marco De Vincenzo as its new creative director for women’s, men’s and home collections,[Hannah Militano (25 February 2022), Etro Names New Creative Director, Designer Marco De Vincenzo Grazia.] making him the brand’s first head designer from outside the Etro family.[Laura Rysman (11 June 2022), What Would Happen if Fashion Actually Slowed Down? New York Times.]
Management
Family
Etro is identified primarily with Gimmo (born Gerolamo), the founder, however the company is managed by his four children:
-
Kean Etro was the creative director of the Etro Man collections, sometimes inspired by his travels and antique book collection.
-
Veronica Etro was the creative director of the Etro Woman collections.
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Jacopo Etro worked for the family business from 1982, eventually becoming the Creative Director of the Etro Accessories, Leather, Home and Textile collections, as well as Head of Communication. In 2010, he was also invited to sit on the board of the Camera Nazionale Della Moda Italiana as the delegate for the Italian textile industry.
-
Ippolito Etro joined the company in 1991, overseeing the Administration Department before his promotion to General Director.
CEOs
Collections
Menswear
The menswear collection has been presented through conceptual catwalk shows, including the 2003 Autumn/Winter collection that had guests ride on a 1937 steam train through urban
Milan, with the models walking through the cabins.
Other pieces have included "cooked" shirts, where the pieces are dyed with berries or other food-stuffs in order to produce their intended designs.
Womenswear
The womenswear line was launched in 1991.
For the 2016 Spring/Summer womenswear collection presented in Milan, Angelo Flaccavento wrote that it "showed off the savoir-faire of her ateliers", using a
Ballet dancer-lingerie theme. He wrote further of the lighter direction the collection moved in from previous seasons that "Everything had a charming, undone quality that looked appealing and felt new".
called the collection an "ode to turn-of-the-century femininity", also mentioning the strong influence of dance throughout the show.
From 2017 on, Veronica and Kean started showing their collections together.
[Alexandra Marshall (August 15, 2017), The Colorful World of Etro WSJ..]
Etro Home
Starting in 1985, Etro added home textiles, pillows and plaids to its portfolio.
[Luisa Zargani (October 14, 2020), Etro Further Developing Its Home Line Women's Wear Daily.] These were followed by ceramics, gifts and wallpaper.
[Luisa Zargani (October 14, 2020), Etro Further Developing Its Home Line Women's Wear Daily.] Everything is produced in-house except for furniture.
In 2014, Etro opened its first Etro Home store in Milan during the Salone del Mobile.
In 2017, the company entered into a licensing agreement with Jumbo Group in Cantù – later called Oniro Group – for the production and distribution of furniture.[Luisa Zargani (October 14, 2020), Etro Further Developing Its Home Line Women's Wear Daily.] In 2020, Etro revealed the brand would start developing fabrics for the outdoors, to be employed in gardens or boats.[Luisa Zargani (October 14, 2020), Etro Further Developing Its Home Line Women's Wear Daily.] In 2024, Etro entered into a partnership with Rams Global on manufacturing and supply of customized products for the Tower Rams Beyond in the Maslak neighborhood of Istanbul, making it the brand’s first residential project.[Luisa Zargani (11 October 2024), Etro Launches First Branded Residential Project Women's Wear Daily.]
Fragrances
Etro also has a line of
, some using the theme of "ancient perfumery".
In 2024, the company and
Coty signed an agreement for the production and distribution of Etro fragrance lines and home scent collections beyond 2040.
[Sandra Salibian (20 February 2024), Coty and Etro Ink Long-term Beauty License Women's Wear Daily.]
Other projects
Other collections include toiletries, leathergoods, travel accessories, eyewear,
footwear,
and jewelry.
In 2023, the brand signed a multiyear licensing agreement with Italian manufacturing company Simonetta to launch Etro Kids, a childrenswear line.
[Sandra Salibian (3 May 2023), Etro to Introduce Kids Line Women's Wear Daily.]
Controversy
In a 2018 lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court, former Etro employee Kim Weiner alleged the company had been discriminating against employees on the basis of race, gender and age, arguing she herself was fired after taking a stand against the company’s biased practices.
[Jonah Engel Bromwich and Vanessa Friedman (August 30, 2018), Lawsuit Accuses the Italian Fashion House Etro of Discrimination New York Times.]
External links
