Fiat heir partners with Gucci to launch Lapo’s Wardrobe
Lapo Elkann, a member of the Italian Agnelli dynasty, recently launched a made-to-measure collection named Lapo’s Wardrobe in conjunction with Gucci.
Described as “a luxury sartorial service for the modern day gentleman”, the 27-piece collaboration collection comprises 23 looks for men and 4 for women. Each item is customisable and alterations to them will take between 4 and 6 weeks.
Of the project, Elkann – who is often nicknamed ‘Lapo of Luxury’ – commented:
“I am excited and honoured that the Lapo’s Wardrobe project is being brought to life by Gucci, which is synonymous for Italian excellence and craftsmanship. It was a great experience to build this capsule collection together with Frida [Giannini, Gucci’s creative director]: we share a love and respect for tradition, yet we are not afraid to dare and experiment. It is the combination of both that I believe is exemplified in the pieces we designed and created”.
Lapo’s Wardrobe was unveiled in Milan in June and will also be available from September at Gucci boutiques in London, New York, Paris, Sao Paulo and Tokyo. Suits start at £2,140.
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I was engaged in the rag trade for a considerable period of time. It was a commercial enterprise dealing with sale of men’s and women’s garments to the general public. Our customer base were migrant workers, so the challenge was even more immense.
We procured our merchandise from overruns and closeouts, in other words factory rejects. The profit margins were very handsome indeed. Esra Siebra was a master craftsman behind the Singer sewing machine, he obtained the originality and quality of the garments. We grossly mark up the prices of our merchandise, in order to give our customers the opportunity to haggle the prices down, and create the illusion that we were defeated.
The end result, a satisfied customer. Lapo comes across as a swank pot, my customers would not even want to be buried in his suits. I dressed them as men, not poefs.
I have said it before, who needs Gucci.
Years ago when Lapo was a student in London we made him live with Marisa Masters in Walton Place. It worked well for a while. Marisa stopped him from doing all the things he loved. I think she may have even locked him in his room to stop him clubbing. Those who know the wonderful Marisa would know skilful driving was not her forte. In fact, she generally left a trail of abuse screaming cabbies in her wake. Fortunately, Lapo had left a lump of malleable substance in her old Merc. Marisa, not knowing what it was, decided it was something to put in her ears to protect her from other drivers’ abusive screams.
Lapo never got his resin back…..