What Aspesi is known for
Milanese label founded in 1969 by Alberto Aspesi as a shirtmaker; expanded into full menswear and womenswear by the late 1970s and is credited with popularizing the down jacket ('piumino') as everyday city wear in Italy.
Aspesi was founded in 1969 by Alberto Aspesi, who started the company in Milan as a shirt manufacturer. Through the 1970s the label moved beyond shirting into complete men's and women's ready-to-wear, working with designers including Franco Moschino, Walter Albini and Marco Zanini. Its advertising over the following decades leaned on serious photographic names - Peter Lindbergh, Robert Frank, Oliviero Toscani and Paolo Roversi - while the clothes themselves stayed deliberately unbranded, without a visible logo. The house is credited with taking the down jacket out of purely technical, sport-oriented use and turning it into an everyday urban garment, a piece it calls the 'piumino.' In 2017 the company was acquired by the Italian private equity firm Armonia SGR. It currently operates around 15 standalone and shop-in-shop locations directly, with its collections also distributed through more than 600 retail outlets worldwide.
Best for — Field jackets and understated Italian staples.
Made in Italy using European fabrics.
Where next
- Belvest — Italy
- Allegri — Italy
- Bernard Zins — Paris
In the Journal
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