Nino Cerruti was born into one of Italy’s leading wool producing families, and as such, was exposed to the possibilities that the material offered at a very young age. Although the young Cerruti was initially a textile producer, by the 1950s, as Italian culture began to flower in the warm glow of the post war years, Nino Cerruti began to become known as a clothes designer and manufacturer.

The Nino Cerruti line was founded along very specific principals in whom he decided that the most important factors governing any area of fashion were that the materials used should be of the highest quality, and the finished items of clothing should be put together in such a way to make their quality obvious. By 1957 Nino Cerruti had moved beyond his initial Hitman line of innovative clothing for men in order to create a homogenous and themed menswear range under his own name.

The first collection from Nino Cerruti was hailed across fashion conscious Italy as a truly innovative line, at once elegant and masculine, emphasizing the physique yet creating a softened silhouette, which gave the clothing a unique appeal across age groups.

Cerruti took on a young designer called Giorgio Armani as his protégé, and was a great influence on the later style of the younger man, giving him many of the concepts that would come to define his own work 20 years later.

As with many other fashion designers, Nino Cerruti invested heavily in expanding his empire beyond clothing, and launched a number of fragrances for both men and women. The first Nino Cerruti cologne, his own signature scent was released in 1978, and was followed 7 years later with another, Fair Play.

The first Nino Cerruti perfume for women was launched in 1987; Nino Cerruti pour Femme was an instant hit thanks to the way in which the marketing for the fragrance caught the imagination of the world.

In 1990, the most popular fragrance the company has ever produced, Cerruti 1881 was launched. The name of the perfume, which was re-launched with a version for women 5 years later, paid tribute to the year in which the textile mill that the company grew from was founded.

Nino Cerruti left the company in 2001 after an acrimonious relationship with investors from Fin Part, design duties are now handled by Nicolas Andreas Taralis, formerly in charge of menswear at Dior, who has vowed to stay true to the original design ethic of the founder.

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