Philosophie

Italian brand gentryportofino came about in Genoa in 1974 out of a very simple intuition: to bring color to knitwear. It was immediately a huge success, and the brand soon gained even greater strength through a total look offering, thereby further enhancing the brand’s market position to become a true international force. Backed by this success, the line of women’s wear was then joined by the first collection for men.

During those years, it became essential to take on some creative talent in the form of the young designer Enrico Coveri, who created the first true gentryportofino collection. The partnership lasted from 1975 to 1977, after which another designer, Gianfranco Ferré, put his mark on the collection until 1979. Over the brand’s history, other big names were to follow, such as Martin Margiela from 1992 to 1997 and also Saverio Palatella and Christina Kim. Numerous other partnerships have also been tied to the brand, such as with Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Zoran, who all had work done by gentryportofino.

In May 2011, Gianbattista Tirelli, owner and managing director for the Italian OLMAR AND MIRTA SPA, a popular outsourcer for the production and distribution of internationally renowned brands such as Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh and Uma Wang, took over the brand and the knitwear factory as a strategic part of that company’s production structure. With the presentation of the first 2012-13 F/W collection, gentryportofino has embarked upon a new project: knitwear as movement, evolving in terms of style while preserving its heritage and offering an ethereal, contemporary and sophisticated image where processed and finished cashmere plays the leading role and is processed in an endless variety of unique combinations.

Gentryportofino started as cashmere brand, in terms of luxury fabrics, and became a global brand, representative of the Italian production of knitwear by keeping its main features – quality, craftsmanship, experimentation – and using them to create contemporary, essential, classy designs.