Umberto Angeloni
> PROFESSION CEO of Brioni
> AGE 53
> NATIONALITY italian
If you wanted to define a modern day connoisseur, it would be Umberto Angeloni, the immaculately dressed, urbane CEO of legendary Italian tailoring firm Brioni. No stranger to la dolce vita, he has authored two books on the art of good living: Single Malt Whisky: An Italian Passion and Seducing the Senses: Spa Visions of a Bon Vivant.
“Living well is not a question of price, but of style. Not a technique, but an art: the art of ‘knowing how to live’ – of which Italians are unquestionably grand masters,” he says.
Angeloni has also written on matters closer to the sartorial roots of his business in The Boutonniere: Style in One's Lapel. He has been in his day job since 1990, and in that time has presided over the expansion of this Roman firm, founded in 1945 on the Via Barberini. Angeloni has added numerous stores worldwide, including one in London, which he has been surprised to find is the most successful in Europe after Milan.
Another development is a Brioni suite at Milan’s Four Seasons Hotel (it offers special services, including a southern Italian menu). Next door to the Four Seasons, in the firm’s Milan atelier, there’s a brown card pattern labelled “Bond”, testament to a deal that has seen Brioni dress another well-known connoisseur since 1995.
WORDS: Peter Howarth
Enquiries: +39 (0)6 484 517; www.brioni.it