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A-grade material: Luca Faloni menswear
The Italian designer explains how a focus on quality and craftsmanship is at the core of his brand
Coming from a consultancy background, I had always worked on consumer goods prior to creating the Luca Faloni brand. I had some experience on fashion projects, but the inspiration came while I was in San Francisco, working on exchange from my usual office in London. I came across some of the first direct-to-consumer brands and loved the idea, but thought that someone should use the same model using Italian products, Italian craftsmanship, and Italian quality.
I quit my job and set out to create the direct-to-consumer brand for fine materials that we are today. We mostly work with cashmere and brushed cotton for our winter styles, and with linen in the summer. Everything is 100 per cent Italian made, and we put a lot of research into which suppliers we wanted to work with.
For our cashmere clothing we work with Cariaggi, one of the most renowned specialists in the material. A family-owned business, set in a small medieval town in Marche, they have three generations of research and development behind them. Our supplier for brushed cottons is Grandi & Rubinelli, one of the oldest mills in Italy. The quality of this premium textile is immediately noticeable; it's very thin, and silky to the touch, unlike many other normal flannels.
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Choosing our linen supplier proved much more difficult for us. There are many more linen suppliers, and we wanted to find a textile and follow it, and see season after season how it performs. As linen gets softer with use, and sometimes creases too much, we put in a lot more time than we imagined we would when we started this process. However, we are very happy with the many suppliers we have built relationships with after years of research. Once we find the right suppliers, we stick to them. We never compromise on our material – it is the most important element of the product.
As a direct-to-consumer brand, we're able to offer this high quality at a competitive price point. In this way, we can put much more value into the products, as we don't have to include a mark-up for stores. Essentially, we're able to offer the same quality as some of the most expensive Italian brands, but at a third, or a quarter, of the price.
When Luca Faloni first started out, we focused on more classic products, such as the crew neck and the V-neck, however we have slowly become more adventurous, adding pieces such as polo sweaters and our cashmere hoodie. Interestingly, the new products have been doing much better than our originals. It taps into the loosening of men's style, and more and more we're seeing people looking for products that are neither formal or casual, but a little bit of both.
The hoodie, in particular, is one of our most popular pieces. Made of cashmere, it doesn't have pockets or a zip, but buttons – it works in both casual and formal environments. Our classic Portofino shirt falls in the same category, as our most sought-after product in the summer months. It's a linen shirt with a slimmed fit, featuring mother-of-pearl buttons and a structured collar. This is another versatile piece you could wear to the beach or out for dinner.
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We're excited to continue to grow and add to our collection. We want to become stronger in the areas we already operate, improving the fit, and the quality where necessary. We are developing new products in other categories as the brand grows but first I believe in doing a few things really well, instead of trying to do everything.
LUCA FALONI is the founder of the eponymous menswear label specialising in cashmere, leather, linen and brushed cotton; lucafaloni.com
