Carlo Pignatelli passes the hand: after more than fifty years the stylist of weddings and VIPs is selling his maison to an unprecedented group of entrepreneurs, with interests more in aerospace than in fashion. And, in the project, it is also included the birth of a haute couture school in Turin.
Eighty years old in November, a native of Latiano, in the province of Brindisi, Carlo Pignatelli opened his “shop” in Turin in 1968, a small four-square-metre workshop that “it was both an atelier and a bedroom”, to then arrive at the current empire, with a turnover of over 50 million and 70 employees. An empire which, between the decline in weddings in Italy and the Covid emergency, which blocked ceremonies for a long time, the company took a bad beating, with revenues plummeting to 12 million euros.
Yet common newlyweds and big names have passed through his atelier, from Marcello Mastroianni to Simona Ventura and Andrea Agnelli: Pignatelli (who also dressed Juventus for a few years) it is synonymous with style and elegance made in Italy. And now the hand is passed to Holding GD, led by entrepreneurs Francesco Gianfala and Riccardo Di Battista, active in aerospace “Carlo will remain with us both as a minority shareholder and as a continuous source of creativity and brand ambassador at a global level”, he explained Francesco Gianfalaspecifying that the objective is to revive the fortunes of the illustrious Turin maison, the last bastion of high fashion in the city.
The focus for the company’s relaunch will be international markets, in particular Asia and the Middle East, with a vision that goes beyond weddings to include all types of ceremonies. “There are huge opportunities in India, China and South America”, says Alessandro Rossi, appointed managing director for the revitalization of the fashion house. The company’s production, which employs around 40 people and which still develops in an artisanal way, will remain in Italy, precisely between Turin and Puglia.
Furthermore, negotiations are already underway with the Municipality of Turin for the establishment of a Haute Couture School, an initiative that the designer hopes to implement in the city. Carlo Pignatelli’s corporate wedding will be celebrated Sunday 19 May, at the Royal Palace of Venariawith a fashion show of the new collection, in the presence of the new members.
