Caruso returns to Milan Men’s Fashion Week with its ‘playful elegance’ and a ‘shock-chic’ spirit

Founded in 1964 in Soragna, in the province of Parma—where its production facility still stands—Caruso is a standard-bearer of Italian sartorial craftsmanship. Having recently moved from Lanvin Group to MondeVita Italy S.r.l.—part of Mondevo Group, an international investment firm backed by private investors and founded by Hussam Otaibi and Fabio Brambilla, which has ensured managerial continuity—the high-end menswear brand has returned to Milan Men’s Fashion Week.

“There is great confidence in the team, because the investment came about thanks to the work done in recent years. The brand was recognised as having a unique industrial set-up, a clear direction in terms of style, creativity and pricing, as well as a passionate team—and one that is growing in a challenging market,” emphasised Marco Angeloni, CEO of Caruso, to FashionNetwork.com.

The company currently employs around 500 people (about 50 more than four months ago, at the time of the acquisition), generates annual revenue of €35 million, and is distributed through a select network of the best high-end multi-brand stores worldwide. “They asked me to stay on board as CEO and a minority investor with a long-term perspective. I accepted very gladly. We’re not talking here about private equity firms that walk away after three years, or large industrial groups that may be more interested in acquiring a company’s production know-how than in growing its business. We’re a small company, but one that’s well integrated across the value chain. I consider that to be of enormous value.”

Caruso has completely redesigned its Milan showroom in Largo Augusto, making it “even more in keeping with the collection” and expanding it to 300 square metres, with an area dedicated to one-to-one appointments reserved for special clients.

“This won’t be just made-to-measure: starting from our looks, the customer will have the opportunity to create an exclusive look,” explained the CEO.

Following further investments at the factory (solar panels, ESG initiatives and new technologies, such as a single-layer cutting machine serving made-to-measure for garments in speciality fabrics), Caruso’s management is reconfiguring the layout of the final stage of jacket-making and has invested in a new prototyping unit to provide faster service. Investment in human resources is also a priority: a generational transition is under way that has brought new managers on board and created a product department. New stores are also on the way, which will showcase the store concept debuted in the showroom, but management’s priority is special services for top clients.

“After many years at Pitti Uomo, we’re returning to Milan with 24 looks that narrate and build the wardrobe of the modern man—the dandy client,” says Max Kibardin, who has served as Caruso’s creative director for the past four years. Born in 1976, the Russian-born designer—Italian by adoption—who, among other things, previously worked at Karl Lagerfeld, has built a solid international reputation since launching his footwear line in 2005.

“We’re once again starting from the leitmotif ‘playful elegance’, conceived by Marco Angeloni and expressed through a palette of desaturated colours inspired by the photography of Irving Penn. In his portraits, Penn strips away the superfluous, and that subtraction becomes intensity, bringing out the subjects’ character as he frames them within corner-set backdrops, almost turning them into objects. The composition is rigorous, the space reduced, the poses measured. This ability to concentrate attention on identity is reflected in the Caruso image. The watchword is precision.”

Versatile yet always elegant shades define the colour palette for Spring–Summer 2027 built around dark grey and a range of intense greens, dusty nuances and deep tones. The floral prints of previous seasons have evolved in a more abstract direction. The silhouette is more defined, with structured shoulders and a bearing shaped by new constructions: the Nabucco structure and the new FLY jacket express a precise, contemporary attitude, balancing structure and fluidity. The Caruso Jacket, in checked cotton and linen, adopts a more English sensibility, and the Butterfly becomes a deconstructed jacket with a mandarin collar.

The collection was conceived as a total look. Ties, pocket squares and scarves pair with shirts in formal poplin, cotton and silk, muslin, linen and pure silk. A palette of white, black, blue and brown defines a clear, controlled aesthetic. The evening coat derived from the double-breasted Carmen with a shawl collar, the dusty bordeaux sequinned jacket and the barathea jacket—crafted from a full-bodied, resilient fabric typical of classic tailoring—introduce depth and character. Morning coat and tailcoat complete a well-defined vision of eveningwear.

Notable materials include lightweight yet structured wools, and refined cottons such as Solaro—an expression of old-money elegance, reinterpreted through blended colours. Also noteworthy are “sophisticated and exclusive blends, such as wool with cashmere, or wool with 40% silk lined with linen–silk, or Irish wool–linen, and cotton–linen. For a ‘shock chic’ spirit, because a man wants to feel sensual and desired—so much so that he’ll pair a sheer cotton voile shirt with city slippers (which I designed for the brand two years ago) that give him a nonchalant, effortlessly elegant attitude,” smiles Kibardin.

“All these elements come together to create a look that tells the story of Italian tailoring over the past 60 years, but in the Caruso Way,” explains Kibardin.

“My elegance becomes (deliberately) nostalgic, because I dream of that man who may no longer exist, but whom we’re trying to bring back. That’s what we are, after all, at Caruso: jacket lovers. Because the fashion world has shown that there’s nothing sexier than a man’s suit.”