 Sergio Loro Piana (LEFT) with his brother Pier Luigi Sergio Loro Piana looks like you would want an Italian industrialist to look – there is a touch of Avvocato Agnelli about the greying hair swept back from his tanned forehead and the sun-creased features that crinkle frequently as he smiles. A cream shirt, a woven silk tie, the stylishly casual touch of a single-ply cashmere cardigan worn under his navy blue suit and the parti-coloured lapel-worn rosette that says “Cavaliere di Lavore”, the highest honour given by the Republic of Italy, complete the picture. Evidently a man of character and style, Loro Piana looks somehow impatient with the corporate surroundings of his manufacturing headquarters in Quarona, a couple of hours out of Milan. Without saying as much or ever forgetting to be anything but charming, he leaves the impression that he would rather be doing something else than running through his PowerPoint presentation. Perhaps he would rather be at the helm of his yacht. Maybe he would prefer to be piloting his helicopter. Then again, the weather is fine, so he could be out riding. As the sixth generation of his family to be involved in the textile business, however, it is Loro Piana’s duty to be in his office explaining his eponymous cashmere company’s global strategy, business plan and place (very near the top, as it happens) in the hallowed, Boston-based Bain & Company pyramid of luxury brands.  Loro Piana’s first store, which opened in New York in 1993.
None of this apparent reluctance should infer that Loro Piana is a playboy, however. Rather, his good taste, passion for quality, natural curiosity, and even the boat, the helicopter, the horses and the houses – his life itself – is his work. Over the last three decades he and his younger brother Pier Luigi have managed to build an old, respectable wool and cashmere supplier into one of the world’s most successful luxury brands, selling everything from knitwear to handbags to rich people across the globe. The changes wrought at the Loro Piana Group during Sergio’s stewardship have been remarkable. “My father took over in the 1930s from my great uncle and he ran the business until the 1970s, when my brother and I got into it,” he says. “My father had a passion for quality and his mind was open to the export market. He loved the raw materials and was fanatical about finding the best. Our generation has capitalised on what we found.” Just how much has been done with the business is clear through the figures that Loro Piana proudly mentions. “In 1975, turnover was around €2.7m and there were fewer than 300 employees,” he recalls. “In 2006, turnover was €385m and there were almost 2,000 employees, 17 legal entities and 96 stores worldwide.” This is especially remarkable since, the way Loro Piana tells it, the company more or less stumbled into ready-to-wear clothes when one of its customers asked it to make up some blankets, then scarves, then robes, then knitwear – it was not until the 1980s that Loro Piana made its first sweater. Now a Loro Piana cashmere pullover is part of the at-ease uniform of the well-to-do. It is also worth adding that the first Loro Piana store – now as much an accepted part of the retail luxuryscape as Hermes, Vuitton and Chanel – only opened in New York in 1993, the second appearing in Milan in 1999. |