Glam made in Florence
During the 90's, after a long period of collaborations with the best names in fashion and Italian couture, Ermanno Scervino decided to launch his own label. He'd seen everything, learnt everything, rubbed shoulders with the stars and the glamorous night owls in Studio 54, had fun with the whole of New York in the 80s, guided by Andy Warhol himself who took him to the Factory, danced with the boho chic set in Ibiza… high class luxury and the lifestyle that goes with it are no strangers to Ermanno. One day, he decided he wanted to dress the world's most beautiful women.
Self made chic
Self-taught, after a stint in Paris followed by a period studying architecture in Italy, he learnt everything he knows from Italian mentors in the fields of luxury goods and fashion design. Trained in all the best techniques, he worked with the most prestigious workshops and and designer using the most beautiful fabrics. After several years of experience and professional growth, he felt the time had come to found his own self-financing label and use it to express his taste for architecture - but this time, for that of the body. Right from the start, he was full of originality; aiming to offer sporty couture styling based on evening jackets, fitted like corsets, sophisticated, rare, as treasured as pieces of lingerie. Italian women snapped them up without a second glance. Right from the very first catwalk show, orders came flooding in. All the best boutiques wanted to sell this new designer who captured the spirit of the times; offering iconoclastic, free-spirited and innovative luxury, with no danger of unexpected combinations of fabrics and cuts. The technique he applied to sportswear was an immediate success. The Ermanno Scervino style was launched. From his childhood home in the Cortina mountains, Ermanno Scervino found his way, via the most chic streets of Italy to the gala premières at La Scala in Milan,then on those of Europe and the world.
Made in Florence
In 2002, the designer formed a network of workshops grouped together into a single entity, based in Florence, enabling him to develop his collections in a completely independent and Italian way. This Made in Florence concept forms an integral part of the label’s DNA. Workshops specialising in knitwear, childrenswear, tailoring and dressmaking techniques as well as a design studio are all centralised within a huge ultra-modern building on the outskirts of Florence. The 300 employees, workshop heads and technicians who work there also give Ermanno Scervino the opportunity to check the production of every piece, right down to the smallest detail. From the hand-drawn designs, to the fittings on the mannequin, right through to the first patterns, implementing the collections remains entirely under the control of the designer and his teams, with no time wasted and no room for error. As a result, the immaculate quality of the Ermanno Scervino label, which has always been his main priority, meets the very highest standards. Throughout Italy, the label employs 1500 people, to maintain the pure Made in Italy concept.
An urban princess
"Women should not be victims of their dress", he says. Brought up by an uncle who was a great lover of music, Ermanno Scervino has kept his taste for strong and passionate heroines. Working alongside Zefirelli, he dressed Cher for the film ‘Tea with Mussolini’. Though he may still dream of creating suits for a modern-day Lady of the Camellias, he now dresses today’s rebellious, chic and glamorous urban princesses. He qualifies his kind of elegance as ‘rock couture’ expressed by today’s young Londoners, echoing the 80s New York energy vibe. Slightly Kate Moss, slightly Angelina Jolie, the Scervino woman is uninhibited, not afraid to carry off her fashion faux-pas with a luxuriously edgy look. This said, Ermanno Scervino does not like his pieces to overshadow the woman wearing them. For him, everything springs from a seduction of the mind, from a spirit that’s committed, concerned with life and all its issues and struggles.
