Agnona

Francesco Ilorini Mo founded the company in 1953 in Borgosesia , Italy. Since then, Agnona has been supplying fabric to designers from around the world. ^[1] Among the first customers were Balenciaga, Balmain, Pierre Cardin and Chanel . ^[2] The son of Francesco Ilorini Mo, Alberto Ilorini, inherited the company from his father and became chairman of the board of directors, remaining in that position even after the Ermenengildo Zegna group of companies bought it in 1999. ^{[1] [3]}

Originally produced by the company, fabrics were sold only in Europe, but in 1960 they appeared in Japan, after Ilorini visited there and explored the possibility of entering the local market. In 1961, the company entered the American market. In the late 1960s, Agnona representatives began traveling around the world and importing wool from South America, China, Australia and Tibet for the manufacture of fabrics. The company also acquired stakes in several foreign manufacturing companies to provide itself with raw materials. ^[2]

Agnona produces about five thousand different types of wool. Among Agnona's woolen fabrics, Kashmiri wool | cashmere , mohair , camel hair, alpaca wool and vicuna wool. As of 1997, Agnona fabrics were used by brands such as Ralph Lauren , Calvin Klein , Chanel , Yves Saint Laurent , Versace , Jil Sander, Escada, Hugo Boss , Dior , Hermès , Valentino, Gianfranco Ferre, Joyce, Sanyo and Marc Jacobs . The company is a member of the consortium International Vicuna Consortium, which has exclusive rights to sell and market vicuna wool. ^[2]

Agnona has two divisions: textiles and clothing. ^{[1] A} unit that manufactures clothing and household goods appeared in the 1970s and designs and manufactures ready-made clothing, knitwear and household goods. ^{[4] [5]} The collection of accessories includes scarves, ties and shawls. ^[6] Agnona's ready-made clothing collections include coats and jackets, jeans, skirts, dresses, and other clothing items. ^[7] One of the managing directors of this collection was Roberto Giorio Fili, who then transferred to a managing position at Calvin Klein. ^[8]

In the late 1990s, Agnona began to open its own branded stores, since before that the company's products were sold only in large department stores. ^[2] In the United States in the 1990s, Agnona products were sold in stores such as Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Barneys New York . In 1997, Agnona opened its first boutique in New York. Earlier, the company opened boutiques in Milan, as well as franchises in Osaka and Tokyo. ^[9] In 1999, Agnona was acquired by Zegna to expand its knitwear collections. ^[10]

In January 2001, Mario Girodi was appointed Managing Director of Agnona, and by the end of the year, 50% of total sales were in women's clothing, 25% in men's clothing, and 25% in household goods. ^{[1] The} male line was subsequently suspended. In 2004, Agnona clothing was also sold in Zegna stores. ^[11] Daniela Cattaneo subsequently took up the position of creative director of the company. ^[12] In 2006, Gunn Johanson became the designer of the women's clothing collection at Agnona. Gucci CEO Domenico De Sole and Agnona CEO Thord von Drissen also acted as consultants. ^[4] As a result, according to the results of the year, 90% of the company's profit came from clothing and only 10% from textile sales. ^[13]

From 2012 to 2015, the chief designer at Agnona was Stefano Pilati, ^{[14] [15] [16]} who expanded the collection of accessories by adding the Cara Bag line. ^[17] In May 2014, Alessandra Carra took over as CEO of the company. ^{[18] [19]}

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