About the house: From DesignerHistory.com (thanks, Justin!)
In 1910, Dante Trussardi, master glove-maker, set up his company in Bergamo, Italy, creating finely made gloves which were soon sold all over the world.
Nicola, Dante Trussardi's nephew was born in Bergamo in 1942. He studied at the Universita Cattolica in Milan, graduating with a degree in Economics and Business Science. He married
Maria Luisa Gavazzeni. They had two sons and two daughters, Beatrice, Francesco, Gaia and Tommaso.
In 1970, Nicola Trussardi, took over the company after the sudden death of his father and brother. Taking full advantage of the company's experience with leather work, he decided to diversity the company's products. He bought a tannery and with the help of experts studied new procedures for treating and refining leather to make sophisticated products.
In 1973 Trussardi launched his label for bags, suitcases and small leather goods. He used as his logo, the greyhound dog, fast and delicate, which has always been tied to the history of painting. The immediate success of the first leather collection encouraged him to add more products to the line, such as belts, shoes, umbrellas and ties.
In 1976, the first Trussardi shop was opened in Milan selling leather jackets and other leather goods. Today the network of shops in Italy and abroad includes 183 boutiques.
In 1983, Trussardi presented the first womens ready-to-wear collection during the twice yearly Milano Ciolezioni shows. He chose as a setting, the romantic ambience of La Scala Opera House in Milan. He followed this a year later with his first Menswear collection shown at the Modern Art Pavilion in Milan.
The Trussardi look is classic, but innovative, with generous use of the finest fabrics.
In both 1985 and 1986 Trussardi was awarded the Iminagena Italia award.
In 1987 Trussardi designed the leasure garments for the Italian athletes taking part in the 1988 Olympic Games.
Throughout the 1980's, the menswear and womenswear collections were very successful, and the company was doing very well.
However, sadly, on April 3rd, 1999, Nicola Trussardi died. He crashed his car on the way home, went into a coma and did not recover. He was only 56 years of age. His daughter Beatrice and son Francesco carried on the house.
French designer Nicolas Ghesquiere took over the design helm for 2 collections in 1997, followed by Jeremy Scott, a Paris-based American, who joined in 1997 and designs Trussardi Jeans, Trussardi T-Store and Trussardi Sportswear.
The Nicola Trussaudi Foundation has been set up to host exhibitions and cultural events in keeping with Nicola's love of art and culture.
Fragrance Collection (links to Perfumeworld.net): My Favorite: By far, Trussardi Skin. An intriguing unisex scent with notes of violet leaves, apple, pink pepper, citrus, lily-of-the-valley, rose, jasmine, rosewood, cedar, patchouli, moss.
The Bottom Line: Though I'm not a fan of the men's scents (generally heavy, with dark leather tones and anise), and am unfamiliar with most of the women's scents, I was a fan of
Trussardi Action for Women in the late 80's and love Skin. The recent Jeans duo is interesting with the men's scent highlighted by a lychee note, and the women's smelling like barley. Though the men's version of Python was one more variation on marine/aquatic, the women's scents was quite striking with notes of Bergamot, Mandarin, Plum, Chocolate, Rose, Jasmine, Cardamom, Nutneg, Sandalwood, Benzoin, Vanilla. Though not my favorite house, Trussardi has some striking compositions and a line of luggage and ties that would make just about any dandy swoon!
Tell us about your favorite Trussardi!
