What Zilli is known for

Zilli was founded in Lyon in 1965 by Alain Schimel, and its self-description — "the finest garment for men in the world" — is less a slogan than a procurement standard.

Zilli was founded in Lyon in 1965 by Alain Schimel, and its self-description — "the finest garment for men in the world" — is less a slogan than a procurement standard. The house built its legend on outerwear: crocodile and lambskin blousons lined in silk, mink-collared leathers, jackets requiring dozens of hours and the best skins on the market, priced accordingly and worn by heads of state, moguls and the occasional oligarch of legend.

Everything is made in France — the Lyon ateliers cut leather with glove-maker fineness — and the range extends the same absolutism to cashmere knits, silk shirting, hand-finished suiting and accessories in exotic skins. Titanium-framed eyewear and limited watches round out a total wardrobe for a customer who has stopped asking prices.

Family-run and deliberately discreet, with salons from Paris to Dubai, Zilli occupies a niche above fashion: French luxury as pure material fact, softest possible, warmest possible, rarest possible.