A famous Italian fashion house has set up shop in London, bringing traditional Neapolitan flair to the heart of the British capital. Mariano Rubinacci has long-established ties with the UK, having used British fabrics and materials to create its classic menswear for decades.
But now the line's owner, Mariano Rubinacci wants to give something back to the country that inspired the company's classic lines.
"My ambition is to bring a part of my Naples, with all its emotions and traditions, to the heart of London," he said.
"I want to create a perfect union between the two cities, which have such different souls yet such similar styles".
The new store, which covers 120 square metres, is located just minutes from Marble Arch and Hyde Park, stretching out over two shop fronts on Mount Street. While the Italian store in Naples sought to highlight its English associations through the name "London House", the firm's British front will cash in on Italy's style kudos by calling itself "Rubinacci Napoli".
Naples Mayor Rosa Iervolino Russo welcomed the inauguration of the new store, expressing her "pride at Rubinacci's decision to link its reputation so firmly to Naples".
"This is great success for high fashion and traditional Naples craftsmanship," she said. "It is the achievement of a historic Neapolitan brand, a family business that is nearly a century old".
Rubinacci's father opened his atelier on Via Filangeri in the 1930s. The youngest in line of merchants that had successfully traded in Indian silks throughout the 19th century, he made the switch with the onset of the depression. Naples had enjoyed a long history of wealth and nobility but Italian Unification in 1860 marked the start of a steady decline.
The city's gradual fall from grace, combined with the general poverty of the 1930s, meant there was little demand for luxury imports and by 1931, Gennaro Rubinacci had decided to go into business as a "personal stylist". Rubinacci's small atelier marked the start of a revolution in menswear, which until that time, had been dominated by more formal, rigid English styles.
Taking traditional British suits as the basis for his designs, Marinacci developed softer, more lightweight creations, better suited to the Italian climate. The style, which has now become commonplace in Italy, also featured a higher cut armhole and more fabric at the back than the front, in order to allow for freer arm movement.
"From the very beginning, we tried to interpret English styles using Italy's artisan talents, softening the lines to obtain clothes that fit like a second skin," explained Rubinacci.
"We gradually developed a Neapolitan version of English tailoring, an unmistakable style that forms supple suits designed to perfectly follow the body's movements". The London store, at 96 Mount Street, is the second step in a broader plan to spread Rubinacci's styles further afield.
An atelier recently opened in Tokyo, bringing the total number of outlets to five, including ones in Milan, Rome and Naples.
