ALTHOUGH HE'S SLIGHT of stature, Michele Sartori, co-owner and designer of Altea - the Italian tie, scarf and shirt company - is hard to miss, dressed as he is in a bright powder blue suit, white shirt, diagonally striped tie and a pair of sporty navy and white sneakers.
His handshake is firm and he speaks in heavily accented Italian as he offers a greeting, while stepping into his Altea boutique in IFC Mall.
'It's difficult to find a good, unique-coloured suit in a classic cut and shape,' Sartori says. 'We have the fabric, and so I got our factory to make it. I love trendy new colour combinations, but something that's still elegant and sophisticated.'
And when creating for his company's range of accessories, it's this striking balance of the avant-garde with a sense of timelessness that has brought him success - and to Hong Kong for the first time to promote the only Altea boutique outside Europe. From one shop in Milan, the brand has expanded into an international company with more than 60 boutiques and shops-in-shops in France, with 28 global sales agents selling to more than 3,500 distributors, and representative offices in the world's largest cities: Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Despite the strong growth, the century-old firm remains a family owned and run business. 'I'm the fourth generation involved in the company, which was started in 1892 by my great-grandfather Giuseppe Sartori Snr,' he says.
Like the ties and scarves Altea creates, the company's history is steeped in a colourful past. The firm began when Sartori Snr opened a shirt and tie shop. He won plenty of fans for his ties made of antique oriental brocades.