MILAN — Consulting firm Ernst & Young assigned its annual awards on Tuesday evening at the Italian Stock Exchange.
The awards ceremony, which is at its 22nd edition, celebrated entrepreneurs who managed, through their innovative spirit and strategic vision, to create value contributing to the growth of the Italian economy.
In particular, Ernst & Young distributed awards in six categories including Fashion & Retail, Industrial Products, Food & Beverage, Innovation & Digital Transformation, Family Business and Globalization.
Nunzio Colella, founder of fast-fashion labels Alcott and Gutteridge’s parent company Capri Srl, scooped up the prize for the Fashion & Retail category for “being able, starting solely from his brilliance and enthusiasm, to build a reality made of a dense network of sale points, promoting an inclusive approach with his employees and enhancing his territory.”

Nunzio Colella 
Courtesy Photo

Born in Naples, Colella started his career in fashion opening a series of multibrand stores in the Eighties. After founding his company Capri in 1988, he introduced the Alcott label in 1990, which was initially sold in multibrand stores. Given the success, he decided to acquire the historic Palazzo Stigliano building in Naples to open Alcott’s first flagship. At the time, the building housed the store of men’s brand Gutteridge,

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PARIS — It took nearly 20 years for Kenzo Takada to complete his first book.
The fashion designer was approached by author Kazuko Masui moments after he left his namesake brand in 1999. At the time, Masui had a plan to make a book of Takada’s drawings, more than 5,000 of them. It since blossomed into a full-fledged biography, opening with the letters a young Takada wrote to his mother upon first arriving in Paris in 1965 and ending with dozens of pages dedicated to his final show at the fashion brand, held at the Zénith concert hall in 1999. Around 400 drawings still made the cut.
Born in 1939, Takada studied at Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo before setting off to Paris to pursue his career. After a couple of years working for a design agency and selling drawings of his designs, including to the house of Louis Féraud, Takada opened his first shop in March 1970, named Jungle Jap.
It was an immediate hit, with Takada’s colorful cotton designs and Japanese kimonos gathering press attention. The brand officially launched as Kenzo in 1976 when it inaugurated its flagship on the Place des Victoires in the center of Paris. Takada quickly became

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LONDON — Browns wants to take risks and inject fun into retail.
For spring 2019 it has been working toward 45 launches, introducing brands old and new into its edit, while also keeping an international outlook, with its eyes on South Korea and Georgia in particular.
Jil Sander, Mugler and Paco Rabanne are some of the established names returning to the retailer, while other newcomers include specialized dress brands Les Rêveries and Silvia Tcherassi, as well as Plan C by the Marni founding family Castiglioni.
“It’s a new moment, with its own voice and signature. Marni filled a void and it was important to fill it, but this is like nothing you’ve seen before,” said Ida Petersson, the retailer’s women’s wear buying director.
The company is also adding to its accessories lineup with the Israeli handbag label Complét, known for its quirky shapes; the Korean handbag label Gu_de, whose signatures include croc-effect, structured totes; Roker, which makes one-of-a-kind boots and has shot to fame after collaborating with Charles Jeffrey, and Aranaz, which is known for its handwoven baskets.
“We were looking for pieces you want to have fun with outside the classic beach bag,” added Petersson, pointing to an Aranaz crab-shaped straw bag in the retailer’s

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COUTURE CLUB: The Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture has elected Balmain as the newest guest member on the couture schedule this January.
At its supervisory board meeting on Nov. 16, the Chambre Syndicale also reappointed Aganovich, Antonio Grimaldi, Azzaro Couture, Christophe Josse, Georges Hobeika, Guo Pei, Iris van Herpen, Maison Rabih Kayrouz, Ralph & Russo, RVDK/Ronald van der Kemp, Ulyana Sergeenko, Xuan, Yuima Nakazato and Zuhair Murad as guest members next season.
Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing revealed at WWD’s Retail & Apparel CEO Summit in late October that the house would be returning to the couture calendar for the first time since the departure of Oscar de la Renta in 2002. “[I’m] looking to bring back the Parisian DNA,” he said.
The prospect has a lot of business potential considering 80 percent of Balmain’s sales stem from ready-to-wear. Accessories, fragrance and cosmetics are also on his wish list.
The couture shows are to take place from Jan. 21 to Jan. 24.

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DESIGN FOR A CAUSE: Former Gucci creative director Frida Giannini is making a comeback to fashion for a charitable cause, just in time for Christmas.
The designer, who exited Gucci in 2015, has teamed with OVS and nonprofit association Save the Children designing a capsule collection of Christmas jumpers for men, women and kids, which the retailer will start selling from December.
Part of the proceeds will benefit Save the Children to support a number of still undisclosed projects in Italy and abroad. OVS has been a partner of the organization for the past 10 years.
Landing in stores and on OVS’ online shop ahead of Christmas Jumper Day, which the nonprofit has scheduled for Dec. 14, the bomber-style jumpers feature traditional jacquard sweater motifs on the front and the face of a giant winking snowman on the back. They are available in three color combinations: red and white; black and white, and white and red.
“I know the work that Save the Children is doing to save and help children in Italy and abroad, and I’m more than happy to offer my personal contribution to develop new initiatives to raise awareness and money for the organization. Christmas Jumper Day is a funny and

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