What is real luxury? The answer, according to Berluti, is “time, ease and essentiality.”
Since parting from its artistic director Kris Van Assche in 2021, the luxury brand has kept a relatively low profile, releasing its collections outside the Paris Fashion Week calendar even as the industry roared back from the coronavirus pandemic.
This season, Berluti returned — albeit without a creative figurehead — with an alpine-flavored collection presented in a showroom at its Paris headquarters. On display was its vision of a wardrobe for a man who favors timeless style over seasonal trends.
Split into four chapters, which will be dropping in stores between July and December, the collection ran the gamut from cashmere sweaters to leather down jackets and vests in rich hues inspired by the brand’s signature patina shoes. With their flawless fabrication, the label’s takes on classic styles — like biker jackets and shearling bombers — are best-in-class.
Over the years, Berluti has catered to personalities such as Andy Warhol, Frank Sinatra, Yves Saint Laurent and Marcel Proust. Perhaps only Warhol could have anticipated how casual clothes would sweep out suits, which barely registered in this lineup.
The most conspicuous example came in an oatmeal stretch cashmere that looked as relaxed as a tracksuit. The modern business traveler might pair it with a bag or suitcase in Berluti’s new Toile Marbeuf canvas, featuring a fresh take on the Scritto, its signature 18th-century manuscript motif.
While best known for its classic shoes, Berluti also offers a range of sneakers. Gone are the chunky models favored by Van Assche. Instead the brand is adding to its bestselling Shadow range with flyweight technical nylon knit and cashmere versions, and introducing a retro-flavored model called Trainer.
With this streamlined offering, Berluti set forth a blueprint for dressing down while dressing up — zero headaches included.
