At Brioni, Traditional Tailored Suits Can Be Modern, Says Norbert Stumpfl
MILAN — At Brioni, Norbert Stumpfl wants “to make sure men have something [that] they fall in love with every season.” The brand’s customers “are leading this busy life, and we want to spoil them and [for them] to have this extra little lift through Brioni.”
As he adjusted a lapel and a belt on a trenchcoat for WWD’s exclusive preview, the creative director himself lovingly stroked the fabric, marveling at the lightness of the double-splittable wool and cashmere garment — each stitch applied by hand, he pointed out.
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“Lightness” is a key word in the designer’s vocabulary. “Our man is always on the move and we want to make sure that the clothes never weigh him down, that the look is really working for him. I think that’s why our clients always come back, because they like the lightness of the garments. Sure, they look super sophisticated, but it’s always the lightness they feel when they wear the clothes that has added value. I hate stiff fabrics.”
Brioni is marking its 80th anniversary in 2025, and modernizing the traditional tailored suit the brand is known for is also the designer’s mantra. “I always ask my team, ‘What’s modern for the classic man? What does he need? How we can update his wardrobe? How can we make him feel good?’”
Indeed, Brioni has been successful in continuing to please its core and loyal customer, but at the same time has been attracting a new generation of admirers. Known for dressing the most famous British secret agent on the screen, from Pierce Brosnan to Daniel Craig, Brioni lists a cross-generational group of celebrities who have been wearing its suits, from Jake Gyllenhaal, Andrew Garfield, Zac Efron, Glenn Powell, Drake and Austin Butler to Brad Pitt, Jude Law, Ryan Reynolds, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise and Kevin Costner, to name a few.
Stumpfl underscored that the brand’s modernity also lies in the fact that men “can have these garments in their wardrobes for a long time. More and more people want to buy into something luxurious, but which will last. There is a change taking place, people are looking for substance, for something meaningful and long-term,” and Brioni responds to that need, he contended.
To present the brand’s fall 2025 collection, which will be unveiled on Saturday, Stumpfl chose Milan’s central Neoclassical Palazzo Serbelloni. “I always like a place with history, it’s very important to me,” said the designer, who lives in Rome, where the brand’s offices are based. “The colors of the palazzo fit perfectly with the collection,” and, he added cryptically, the former will allow the presentation this season to be “more animated.”
Stumpfl joined Brioni in October 2018, and has succeeded in shaping a precise and elevated design strategy for the brand, bringing stability after a few seasons of uncertainty before him. He took over following Nina-Maria Nitsche’s exit after only a year at the brand’s design helm. She had arrived after Justin O’Shea, a women’s retail executive who tried to revolutionize the brand — tapping the Metallica band for an ad campaign that badly misfired — and who abruptly left the company in October 2016 after six months. Previously, British designer Brendan Mullane held the role of Brioni creative director from July 2012 to February 2016.
The Austrian Stumpfl has the credentials for the job. “I started sketching at a very, very young age and I attended a tailoring school when I was 14 years old, went on to Central Saint Martins and worked with Lee McQueen in my early 20s. I still can’t believe it, growing up in Austria, in the countryside, and then being able to work with all these amazing people. We made trousers for David Bowie for one of his concerts,” he recalled fondly. He was then hired by Alber Elbaz at Lanvin, where he stayed for almost 10 years, followed by Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton and Berluti.
“There is such a history, so much talent, so much craftsmanship, the highest level of tailoring at Brioni — all this was attractive to me to join,” Stumpfl said. While aiming to modernize the brand, he believes “it would be wrong to push Brioni in the direction where it does not belong. We have our expertise in the handmade suits, in the tailoring, and I have always wanted to make sure that we don’t lose our identity.”
Stumpfl underscored that Brioni has always been a modern company, the first to hold a men’s runway show back in 1952 in Florence, at the famed Sala Bianca at the city’s Palazzo Pitti. Famously, there were no male models at the time, and Brioni founders Nazareno Fonticoli and entrepreneur Gaetano Savini put their sales assistants in suits, introducing strong colors for men. They were also the first to hold a show on an airplane.
Traveling around the world with an open mind helps Stumpfl achieve the modernity he is looking for. “I always look at what’s going on in other cities and countries,” he said, citing Japan as one of his favorite destinations, for example. “Of course, I’m reading the news. I’m informed every day. I go to exhibitions. This is how we keep ourselves modern. The team is also very young. I’m the oldest at 48,” he said with a smile.
Embracing the younger generation and determined to nurture the tailors of tomorrow, Brioni — which has been controlled by Kering since 2011 and has been led by chief executive officer Mehdi Benabadji since January 2020 — in October unveiled the Nazareno Fonticoli School of Haute Tailoring, further strengthening the close relationship of the company with the Penne town, where it was founded, and the Abruzzo territory.
Also, in November Brioni partnered with the Roman fashion school Accademia Costume & Moda, whose famous alumni include Alessandro Michele and Frida Giannini, to launch the first Master Accademico di I Livello in Menswear Design.
While tailored suits are still Brioni’s bestsellers, Stumpfl has been adding more casual looks and has expanded the knitwear offer — the latter even bespoke — and which also has to be always “soft and light.” It was exemplified by the cocooning cashmere turtleneck design he was wearing — ideal for the chilly January day in Milan, but as light as air.
“Menswear is swinging in a direction where of course sportswear will still continue to be popular, and we have some looks, too, but still inspired by our tradition. For example, we add membranes to render the fabrics used for tailoring completely windproof and waterproof. We don’t really work with nylon,” said Stumpfl, who has also been spearheading the launch of womenswear for Brioni.
“We always make sure there is some newness, but move forward in a very gentle way, without dramatic departures,” he said.
The trench is an example, where the tailors add touches such as horn buttons and leather details on the collar and the belt. “Each buttonhole is stitched by hand and the leather trims are each painted by hand,” the designer said. “Everything is done in a very, very artisanal way, but we still create an outfit which any man can wear. This is a very classic look, but it’s all made in a different way completely, so there is always that element of surprise. We aim for the ‘wow’ effect.”
The trench doesn’t need to be lined and is deconstructed thanks to the double-splittable technique.
Similarly, he pointed to the black pants and shirt combo under the trench that were made in a wool generally employed for a traditional suit, so “if a man doesn’t feel like wearing a jacket, he can wear this kind of shirt, and he will still look very sophisticated in a very easy way.”
The designer added linen threads to a feather-light and fluid double-breasted suit in cashmere and silk, which contributed some movement to the burnt orange color. “You see, it’s not a flat hue. Since linen is a plant-based fiber, it dyes differently,” he explained.
“I love double-breasted suits, they are a little bit more uncommon for men, but I think they just create a nice volume and a nice shape, and you look just a little bit different from the others,” he continued.
A coat was also double-breasted in double-splittable cashmere and lined in shearling in a burgundy shade.
Eveningwear is never an afterthought for Stumpfl, who created elaborate jackets with micro-checks and delicately embroidered beads.
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