History of Trussardi :: Brand History of Trussardi

An Overview

Dante Trussardi founds his luxury glove factory in 1911. From the very beginning Trussardi is by word for discreet supplication experimentation and innovation. Its high quality raw material into leatherworking techniques and fine traditional craftsmanship build it’s a reputation around the world.
Trussardi Group was founded in Bergamo by Dante Trussardi in 1911, starting out as a factory that produced and distributed luxury gloves. In just a few years, its high-quality raw materials and constant refinement of leatherworking techniques made it one of the most prominent firms on the international market for accessories, to the point that it soon became an official purveyor to the British royal family.
From the very beginning, Trussardi has been a byword for excellence, discreet sophistication, experimentation and innovation.
In the late '60s, in the very middle of worldwide upheaval that was shaking society to the core, Dante's grandson took over the business. Nicola Trussardi turned Trussardi into an industrial group, diversifying its product range and entering the sectors of clothing and luxury accessories; his vision was to create a brand whose style would embrace every aspect of life, always aiming for the very highest standards. In 1973, Trussardi became the first designer to adopt a logo identifying all its products: the Greyhound. A symbol of agility and energy, the Greyhound revolutionized the international fashion system, leaving an indelible mark on the tastes of the time with its sophistication, refinement, and maniacal attention to detail, using materials of unparalleled quality.
With his firm grounding in a quintessentially Italian tradition of fine craftsmanship, passed down from generation to generation, Nicola Trussardi designed, produced and marketed suitcases, bags, articles for the home and office, and leather jackets in constantly changing styles, which rapidly gained a reputation in Italy and around the world as emblems of peerless quality. In the '70s, he opened the first Trussardi boutique in Milan (Via Sant'Andrea, in 1976—still the brand's flagship store) and the Group expanded to enter every European and American market.

A Continuous Evolution

In the '80s, the Greyhound's success helped Trussardi move into clothing, launching its first menswear and womenswear collections; it gained more widespread popularity through the first fashion shows finally open to the general public (such as the memorable events at Teatro Alla Scala and in Piazza del Duomo), while working with leading Italian firms (such as Alitalia, Garelli, Agusta and Alfa Romeo) to redefine the "Made in Italy" label. Over the years, Trussardi harmoniously blended fashion with theatre and style with spectacle, collaborating with Milan's Teatro Piccolo and its director Giorgio Strehler, costuming Macbeth at the Roman Arena in Verona, and organizing initiatives such as a runway show at Castello Sforzesco, directed by Dario Argento, to present the Trussardi Action line of casual wear. In 1986, Trussardi opened Palatrussardi, a new venue for concerts and large-scale events that housed innumerable performances, including Frank Sinatra's last concert in Italy.

Trussardi became a style spanning every moment of the day: the Group launched the lines Trussardi Jeans, Trussardi Home, Trussardi Baby, Trussardi Junior, Trussardi Eyewear and Trussardi Perfumes, becoming a byword for elegance and uncompromising quality.

In the '90s, Trussardi continued blazing a path of international expansion, presciently targeting new emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and opening new single-brand boutiques in Hong Kong (1992), Moscow (1993), and Taiwan and Taipei (1994). In this period, images played a major role in spreading Trussardi style around the world, with help from some of the most intriguing figures in international photography, such as Richard Avedon, Mario Testino, Michel Comte and Steven Klein.

Trussardi's commitment to engaging the general public—a key value in the Trussardi lifestyle—led the Group in 1996 to open Palazzo Marino Alla Scala, the first flagship building in the fashion world, housing not just a showroom and boutique, but an exhibition space, café, bookshop, and restaurant. This six-story venue in Piazza della Scala presents the many facets of the Greyhound, which embodies distinction in every field of its activity.

Trussardi Group still preserves the values of a family business, though expanded to accommodate the pace and lifestyle of our times: the fourth generation of the family now holds the reins of the company, with Beatrice Trussardi as President and CEO since 2002. Under her guidance, Trussardi has turned its orientation as a lifestyle brand into a daily quest to represent the very essence of all-Italian quality.

Under Beatrice Trussardi, the Group has launched Trussardi 1911, a new line of accessories and apparel for men and women, which preserves all its traditional elegance, yet moves towards the cutting-edge language of contemporary culture and style. Trussardi 1911 is available worldwide through a unique, select network of stores. Alongside Trussardi 1911, there are two new brands, Tru Trussardi and Trussardi Jeans, both dedicated to the needs of metropolitan living; the former focuses on the urban professional environment, while the latter is meant for leisure time.

Until Today

With an overall distribution network for its many lines that totals over four hundred points of sale (in Italy, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and America), Trussardi is a firmly-established, well-known group, active everywhere around the world.

At the initiative of Beatrice Trussardi, the Group has intensified its commitment to contemporary culture: in the world of art, through Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, a nomadic institution that brings art into people's daily lives, organizing exhibitions of international artists in historical spaces and landmarks throughout the city of Milan; the world of cuisine, with Il Ristorante Trussardi Alla Scala, one of the finest outposts of cuisine in Italy, which recently achieved a prestigious two-star rating in the Michelin guide; and the world of design.

In 2009, Trussardi Group redefined the concept of "flagship building" through a major structural renovation of Palazzo Trussardi Alla Scala, which has become a hub of culture expressing the brand's tradition. The ground floor of this building in Piazza della Scala now features an open, flexible layout housing the first Trussardi 1911 concept store (accessories for men and women, but also articles for the home and a variety of precious orchids), a space dedicated to the most interesting voices in the world of image-based journalism (fashion, art, lifestyle in general), and Café Trussardi, an experimental venue that adapts fine dining to the frenetic pace of contemporary life, with a glass-walled outdoor space designed by studio Carlo Ratti Associati, topped by the first vertical garden installation in Italy by Patrick Blanc.

Committed to the themes of innovation, sustainability and environmental awareness, Trussardi Group embodies the past and the future of Italian excellence in fashion, design, art, and cuisine.