With fashion houses clamouring after the growing luxury menswear sector, LVMH is counting on Alessandro Sartori and a heritage shoemaker to grab a slice of the action.
Berluti has been around for 117 years, handcrafting shoes for a roll call of famous men and selling them for upwards of Euro1,500 (HK$15,625). Still, it remains relatively unknown outside the fashion industry. That could change as owner LVMH embarks on an ambitious plan to transform the shoe company into a luxury menswear brand.
At an opulent event at Paris men's fashion week, Berluti unveiled its first menswear collection in the label's history. The launch comes less than a month after LVMH rival PPR, which owns Gucci and Alexander McQueen, bought menswear brand Brioni.
According to a report by consultants Bain & Company published at the end of last year, the high-end menswear market is worth about Euro180 billion and is growing at nearly 14 per cent a year - nearly double the expansion of luxury womenswear. Asia, and in particular China, has led this growth.
Not surprisingly, the competition is heating up as the conglomerates queue up for the Asian consumer. Louis Vuitton is planning to take its made-to-order shoe service - already available at its Milan and Sydney boutiques - to Shanghai in June. Meanwhile, Gucci and Bottega Veneta, owned by PPR, are also currently testing men's only stores on the mainland.
But Berluti's CEO Antoine Arnault, 34, son of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault and one of the luxury group's heirs apparent (along with sister Delphine, a Dior executive) is quietly adamant that his company's vision of luxury is superior to the rest.