He was one of the most influential figures in 20th century men’s fashion.and century. Fashion designer and entrepreneur Nino Cerruti has died aged 91, according to Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, the Italian news agency. He died in a hospital in Vercelli, in Piedmont (North-West), where he was for a hip operation, according to the daily website Corriere della Sera. “It’s a giant among Italian entrepreneurs who is leaving”, reacted the deputy minister of economic development of the country, Gilberto Pichetto.
The photographer Paolo Roversi, friend and longtime collaborator, said of him: “Nino is “Cheetah”. He’s like Prince Salina from the novel by [Giuseppe Tomasi di] Lampedusa and Visconti’s film, this aristocrat who watches his world disappear before him. But he is still there, in front of us, more beautiful than ever. »
Nino Cerruti introduced “casual chic” to high-end menswear by inventing the first deconstructed jacket in the 1970s. He was then a master of casual refinement, but felt that the term “elegance” at “a terrible taste of the old”, preferring the concept of “styling”. “To have style is to mix culture and art”, as the maestro said.
Born on September 25, 1930 in Biella, he was forced, after the death of his father, Silvio, to abandon his studies in philosophy at the age of 20 to take over the family textile factory and thus bury his dream. to become a journalist. In the 1960s, he met a certain Giorgio Armani, four years his junior, and hired him as a designer for men. The duo, which had a profound impact on the fashion world, separated a decade later, after Armani decided to found his own house in 1975.
Among his many activities, Nino Cerruti, named Chevalier du Travail, was also the official designer of the Ferrari Formula 1 team.