When we talk about high fashion, it’s impossible not to name-check giants like Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and Chanel, all of which paraded their latest collections in Paris this past week. But exceptional design doesn’t always make it to the runway—or, God forbid, the mainstream. Sometimes it flourishes quietly, cultivating a devoted following for those in the know, and thriving for more than 50 years from a single flagship in Milan.
Tivioli, the namesake fashion-and-textile label founded in 1970 by furrier Carlo Tivioli, remains a relatively unknown quantity beyond its country’s borders. (Case in point: you’ll only find it as a single U.S.-based retailer, and Clemente Tivioli, the company’s second-generation heir and steward, is content for it to remain so.) “Our story is much more precious and well said if it’s said by us rather than somebody who doesn’t fully grasp what we’re trying to do,” he explained from his home in Milan. With the brand’s imminent arrival at Manhattan’s Demisch Danant gallery later this week, however, more New Yorkers will have a chance to be in on the if-you-know-you-know of it all.