Etro is a family-managed Italian fashion house founded in 1968. It is mainly known for its paisley patterns, which the company started making in 1981.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Founder | Gimmo Etro |
| Headquarters | , Italy |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Kean Etro Jacopo Etro Veronica Etro Ippolito Etro |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, handbags, jewellery, perfumes, textiles and home furnishings. |
| Website | www |
History
Etro was founded in 1968 by Gerolamo "Gimmo" Etro[1] as a textile design company.[2][3] The main stylistic driver for Etro over its first decades was the paisley pattern, and variations on this theme.[4] The company's headquarters is located in Milan on Via Spartaco, and was refurbished in 1977.[5] The headquarters includes textile art archived in their in-house library.[6] Future textiles head Jacopo Etro later commented on this period,[7] 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.[8] After a trip to India made by Etro executives, the furnishing textiles line made its debut in 1981.[9] The "swirling" paisley design found on this trip is now "synonymous" with the label according to Elle Magazine.[10]
The company began producing leather goods in 1984, crafted from Paisley Jacquard fabrics.[11] Etro then began its home collection in 1985.[12] The Fragrances collection was launched in 1989, making its debut in the Milanese Fragrances flagship boutique, located on Via Verri. More recent additions of the line include Rajasthan[13] and Jacquard.[14] Etro's first fashion show at Milan Fashion Week was held in 1996.[15] The company began sales by direct-mail through inserts in The New York Times starting in 1999,[16] and Etro began selling its clothing online in addition to in retail stores in 2013.[17] In 2014, a monograph on the company's history entitled Etro was published by Rizzoli publishing house.[18]
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).[19][20]
Management
Etro is identified primarily with Gimmo (born Gerolamo), the founder, however the company is managed by his four children.[21] Kean Etro is the creative director of the Etro Man collections, sometimes inspired by his travels and antique book collection.[22] He joined the family business in 1986 as a digital intern. In 1990 he designed his first menswear collection, and in 1996 he produced a fashion show focused on the concept of "New Tradition".[23] Veronica Etro is the creative director of the Etro Woman collections.[24] She unveiled her first womenswear collection in 2000.[25] Jacopo Etro has been working for the family business since 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.[26] Ippolito Etro joined the company in 1991, overseeing the Administration Department before his promotion to General Director.[27] He was quoted by The New York Times stating: "My father always told us that we could do what we wanted in life. But he said, 'If you work here, you have to start from scratch'".[28]
Collections
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.[29] Other pieces have included "cooked" shirts, where the pieces are dyed with berries or other food-stuffs in order to produce their intended designs.[30]
The womenswear line was launched in 1991.[31] For the 2016 Spring/Summer womenswear collection presented in Milan, Angelo Flaccavento wrote that it "show[ed] off the savoir-faire of her ateliers", using a ballerina-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".[32] The New York Times called the collection an "ode to turn-of-the-century femininity", also mentioning the strong influence of dance throughout the show.[33]
The company also has a line of fragrances, some using the theme of "ancient perfumery".[34] Other collections include toiletries, leathergoods, travel accessories, eyewear,[4] footwear,[31] jewelry,[35] and home furnishings.[36] In 2014, the company opened its first Etro Home store in Milan during the Salone del Mobile.[37]
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.[38]
References
- ^ "Creative director at Etro takes inspiration from native textiles". South China Morning Post. 1 January 2015.
- ^ Mary Lisa Gavenas (2008). The Fairchild Encyclopedia of Menswear. Fairchild Books. p. 137.
- ^ Björn Stüwe (2009). Produktklassiker: Quintessenzen der Konsumkultur (in German). Springer-Verlag. p. 139.
- ^ a b Peggy Fincher Winters and Carole Paul (2002). Brandstand: Strategies for Retail Brand Building. Visual Reference Publications. p. 57.
- ^ Christina Binkley (26 January 2012). "The Healthy Sibling Rivalry in a Design House". WSJ.
- ^ The Independent. "Fashion: Raison D'Etro". The Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ "Etro is the latest Italian fashion house to hit the block". thedeal.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-27.
- ^ Marie Claire Italia. "Etro: i tessuti, l'arredamento, le borse, i profumi e la moda" (in Italian). Marie Claire Italia. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ Vogue. "Voguepedia". Vogue. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ "Etro Collections - Etro Runway Show Archive - ELLE". ELLE.
- ^ "Le Souk". lesouk.co.
- ^ "Etro Home Collection SS15". LuxPad.
- ^ Vogue India. "Italians make a perfume of Rajasthan". Vogue India. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ InStyle. "Spring Fragrances". InStyle. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ Allison Cawley. "Italian Fashion from Etro". Peachfully Chic.
- ^ Winters and Paul, 63.
- ^ Harpers Bazaar. "Etro launches e-commerce on revamped website". Harpers Bazaar. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ Hannah Martin. "Preview Etro, a new monograph from Rizzoli". Architectural Digest.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Etro". The Cut.
- ^ "In each neighbourhood there lies a special shop". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ Armand Limnander. "Profile in Style: Kean Etro". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ "A conversation with Veronica Etro". Vogue Italia. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ The Daily Telegraph. "Little Black Book: Veronica Etro". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ Antonio Nieto. "The Collector". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ Robin Mellery-Pratt. "Ippolito Etro to Exit Family Business to Pursue 'New Horizons'". Business of Fashion. Retrieved 2 April 2014.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Succession Problems Make Them Targets for Acquisition : Can Italy Houses Stay Alive?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ "Treni, banche e fabbriche per le sfilate della moda maschile". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ Michael Slenske (June 2008). "Kean Eye". Best Life. p. 94.
- ^ a b Francesca Sterlacci Purvin and Joanne Arbuckle (2007). Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry. Scarecrow Press. p. 70.
- ^ "Etro's Pale Damsels". The Business of Fashion.
- ^ Laura Rysman (September 25, 2015). "At Etro, Beauty Fit For Ballet". The New York Times.
- ^ "Etro launch Marquetry and Io Myself". basenotes.net.
- ^ Alexa Brazilian (September 25, 2015). "The Daily Jewel: Etro". The New York Times.
- ^ John Graham (2005). Where to Wear London. Where to Wear International Ltd. p. 70.
- ^ "The Business: Jacopo Etro". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2014-04-15.
- ^ Jonah Engel Bromwich and Vanessa Friedman (August 30, 2018), [1] New York Times.