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Samsonite: Fashion's New Black Label
By: Godfrey Deeny
Photos by: Godfrey Deeny
Jan 20, 2002/ FWD/ --- Samsonite is not the first luggage and bag company to attempt a
diversification into a fashion label. Think of Louis Vuitton and Bottega Veneta, to name
just two brands that have succeeded on this well-trodden path.
But it is very much to the credit of Samsonite Black Label's gentlemanly creative director,
Gigi Vezzola, that the respected American brand is moving into fashion with coherence and a
certain amount of elan.
"Everything is a little bit wrong with this collection," jokes Vezzola as he points to a
cotton jacket featuring loden sleeves, buttons, and a zip up the front.
Vezzola happily points out clever details like off-center arm seams, intarzio hems and faux
elbow patches as examples of his original though practical sense of style.
Though born nearby on the shores of Lake Como, Vezzola has gone for Northern European style,
underlined by the use of fake snow and blue skies in the label's presentation during men's
fashion week in Milan. "You know, I love the idea of cold and being up the mountains," beams
the tanned Italian.
Vezzola, who spent seven years in the design studio of Dolce & Gabbana, is now in his fifth
season at Samsonite Black Label. The label is a joint venture between the American mother
company and the Fremder family, Samsonite's long-time Italian distributor.
Other standouts from Vezzola include perfectly cut cable sweaters, country jackets in
Huddersfield style woolens and technical parkas in matte colors - he hates anything shiny.
Produced by top Italian apparel manufacturer Zamasport, which has produced for everyone from
Romeo Gigli to Chanel, the collection manages to blend the reliability of Samsonite with the
creativity of Italian style.
Vezzola also dreamed up some elongated shoes, ergonomic suede boots with global design
non-slip rubber soles and a nylon and leather laptop backpack for the well-traveled hipster,
which looks rugged enough to withstand most terrain.
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