Preferring to lead rather than follow ever-evolving fashion trends, Loro Piana has long bucked convention by refusing to deliver seasonal sportswear collections like most designer brands. Instead the 86-year-old Italian textile and clothing maker prefers to produce a handful of classically inspired, high-quality pieces each season that will stand the test of time. For instance, the family-owned company’s signature Horsey jacket, originally made for the Italian equestrian team to wear in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, is still in the collection and among the brand’s best sellers. The newest issue is the Idris, a softly constructed sweater jacket made of linen, as well as a reissue in suede of the brand’s famous Roadster Villa D’Este blouson designed for the 75th anniversary of the annual vintage car show on Italy’s Lake Como. Other finely crafted pieces in Loro Piana’s evergreen offering include sporty cashmere shirts and sweaters, linen and cotton jeans, cotton/linen sport shirts, and a multitude of reversible jackets, many of which employ the brand’s patented Storm System weatherproofing technology.
Inside Information
Loro Piana is the exclusive supplier of baby cashmere to the world and has the only patent to produce knitwear from the exceptional material. Sergio and Pier Luigi Loro Piana personally make the long journey to Mongolia, then trek by car for 20 hours to the sparsely populated inner valley, where the Italian textile and clothing makers secure the baby cashmere used to create their family’s fine knitwear. Baby cashmere is considered the rarest and most precious because the supply is restricted by the low birth rate of the goats as well as the limited amount of fiber each animal produces.
