Brioni Unveiled an Exclusive Capsule Collection With Bergdorf Goodman

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More than half a century before menswear peacocks and social media took over Florence’s Pitti Uomo, Brioni had its own viral moment in the Sala Bianca of the city’s Palazzo Pitti. It was 1952, and the white hall in the 15th century architectural icon provided a striking backdrop for the vivid colors and languid suiting for which the Roman house was becoming known. The occasion also marked the industry’s first menswear runway show.

Seventy-three years later, Brioni’s creative director, Norbert Stumpfl, is paying tribute to that pivotal moment with an exclusive capsule collection for Bergdorf Goodman on the occasion of the house’s 80th anniversary.

“You wear these extremely beautiful clothes, but at the same time, you’re very human as well,” Stumpfl tells Robb Report of his tribute to Roman elegance. “Clothes are important, but the human wearing them is more important. That’s what I see in Rome. People enjoy the clothes, but they enjoy being alive, having a life, living la dolce vita.

It’s difficult to imagine anything sweeter than slipping on an electric blue suit in featherweight silk moire, which Stumpfl sourced from a supplier of women’s haute-couture fabrics and notes the technical challenges of working with. Most, lesser moire these days are printed rather woven to achieve the unique woodgrain-like patterning that shifts with movement. Not Brioni’s. Lightness, both in terms of actual weight and general attitude, is a Brioni hallmark.

“I read a newspaper article that described a 310-gram fabric as ‘such a beautiful, light summer weight.’ 310 grams is now a really heavy winter weight for us. We are working with fabrics which are 160-170 grams,” Stumpfl says. That approach extends to leather as well in the form of a parchment-white nubuck jacket as thin as paper itself. It’s a nod to the Sala Bianca, which despite the nomenclature is anything but stark white and rather a sophisticated blend of beiges and taupes.

“Bergdorf speaks the same language as Brioni,” says Stumpfl of the no-brainer partnership. “They’re such an important partner for us and they are always embracing newness.  So many people look to Bergdorf Goodman in terms of innovation.” And indeed to Brioni as well.