Stefano Canali has little time for false prophets. He’s heard a lot of them. For years, the chipper Italian CEO swatted away predictions of imminent doom, the sort that threatened his very livelihood: the 2008 crash; the Covid pandemic; the great work-from-home reformation; the ongoing, crippling cost-of-living crisis.
On the surface, all of these appear to be valid concerns. Because Stefano is in the business of suits. And, despite the doomsayers, he’s still in business.
“As you can see for yourself, I’m wearing the suit today,” he laughs gently from a very Succession corner office in Canali’s Milan HQ, where the brand moved in 2014 from its ancestral Sovico home, a pretty – if narcoleptic – town around an hour’s drive north. With his soft, precise side parting and immaculate navy suit , Stefano doesn’t look like a spiritual Sovico native. “As a matter of fact, the suit will never die.
” It’s an optimistic forecast. But Stefano’s hypothesis for his brand’s supposed immortality is succinct and clear: “We know that a man looks best in a suit, no matter the construction, no matter the fabrics you use.” So guys continue to invest in expert tailoring – and Canali lives on.
In 2022, fashion trade outlet WWD reported some pretty insane numbers at the brand: made-to-measure was up by 130 per cent, autumn collection orders had risen by 146 per cent and sales revenue was estimated to rake in an absurd €172 million (£147 million). But, like an off-.
