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Meeting an icon like Nino Cerruti has been an overwhelming experience, where we got to learn a lot from a person who helped shape and advance an entire industry for over the past 60 years. But what really made this interview special is meeting the true human and see that brilliant spark of genius in his eyes as he took us through time to see how such a legacy was built.
We did lot of research about your background and long history, but before talking about handling the family’ s business how did young Nino Cerruti start his career in the fashion industry?
My story is a typical Italian one, where a member of the family would be in charge of leading the family’ s business. As tradition goes, the eldest male member of the family would always be selected to lead and since I was the boy with two eldest sisters I took control. You must not forget that when
Nino Cerruti followed by his son and grandson
it comes to history, the most successful civilizations were China first, then the Arab world- and in third place came Europe. Now we are entering a phase in history where whatever success happened in Europe is finding a counter balance in the Far-East
،: ما يحدث حالياً في العالم العربي �شيروتي يكون وبعد الانتقال من جيل اإلى جيل �سوف
في الدول المتطورة له ت أاثيره المبا�شر and over time we will see a very strong revival in the Arabian countries, and this is very clear with what has been happening recently around the Arab world- What made Europe successful is the continuum of the legacy from one generation to the other, and I have been a product of such a system.
When I first started I had a father who was alive at the time, I started learning a lot from him about the fabrics and textile business, when I finished my high school and before starting my university studies I had a regular job, and then my father passed away, so I was in a way automatically promoted to become the chief. And you reach this status because you have to maintain the legacy that was built. As a child I learned how to make a piece of fabric, and from there I started to get hands-on practical learning at the factory.
You always hear people saying that nowadays it is very hard to compete in
the market and truly be unique. Was it hard back then?
It was very different 70 years ago, I started working right after the WW2; back then you had a very favourable situation, where there was more demand than offer, and since then, the world has changed in a very dramatic way.
Even the reality of textile business changed from being based on manufacturers and tailors to become based on strong fashion houses that have a lot of international fusion, so the world has changed 180 degrees between 1948 and 2008.
The most successful civilizations were China first, then the Arab world, and in third place came Europe”
Right now competition is much fiercer and harder; just imagine how many countries became developed in the past 60 years. Take the Turkish industry where back in the day it didn’ t even exist, now it is very efficient, that without mentioning what is going on at the Far-East like China.
Take us back in time and tell us more about your very start.
When I started in the fashion industry back in 1967, the whole world was radically different, back then I introduced my men fashion collection at the time there were only five men collections all over the world. Now you have this incredible growth of fashion lines all over the globe.
In Europe, back then, everyone used to wear a suit. Today you would see men wearing more casual and relaxed clothes, the habits have changed, and the industry also has changed, and of course the whole economy has changed. Think of it as traveling in a world before the invention of airplanes and after.
What about your move to Paris?
The decision to move to Paris was made, so that I would move to the best stage in fashion, and the only available stage was Paris. Now keep in mind that Paris isn’ t where you would produce the best as 50 % of what is produced in Italy is consumed by Italy, and the other 50 % is shipped worldwide. Yet,
What made Europe successful is the continuum of the legacy from one generation to the other, and I have been a product of such a system”
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