Brioni Menswear Autumn 2015

The menswear runway show was invented in 1952 when Gaetano Savini, cofounder of Brioni, decided to tantalize the buyers who had come to Florence's Palazzo Pitti for the couture collections with something different. Savini's concept was straightforwardly revolutionary (you can see it on YouTube): He recruited a handsome devil named Angelo Vittucci to wear a dozen suits whilst working the room of mostly female department store buyers into a state of high excitement. The ploy worked, and Brioni became the first Italian tailoring house to break into the U.S. Last night, the company, now owned by Kering and under the creative directorship of Brendan Mullane, marked its 70th year in business with a piece of runway theater that had none of the endearing naivety of Savini's groundbreaking innovation yet was just as persuasive.