THE TIMELESS ELEGANCE OF CESARE ATTOLINI COMES TO MILAN

This renowned Neapolitan tailoring company opens its new boutique in Via Bagutta.

Cesare Attolini brings its timeless elegance to the economic and financial capital of Italy, choosing historic Via Bagutta and one of its most symbolic cultural heritage listed buildings.
The nineteenth-century premises now housing the boutique are in Milan’s fashion district, at 14-16 Via Bagutta, the ‘birthplace’ in 1926 of Italy’s oldest literary prize: the “Premio Bagutta”.
Enormous effort was required to restore the interiors to their original layout and to coherently integrate the new parts that had been added over the years. The first and third rooms have in fact seen renovation of their exposed wooden ceilings, restoration of works by Bagutta-era artists and painters and conservation of the wall displaying the literary prizes. The huge decorated skylight has been rebuilt in the second room, while the last, formerly a garden used for private meetings, has been made even more exclusive than the others, perfect for welcoming guests with the utmost discretion and in maximum comfort.

Existing decorative elements have been restored to preserve the most glorious, authentic evidence of the past in this truly original retail outlet, such as the load-bearing granite columns and steps in Beola and Serizzo stone. The floors are in a Venetian Terrazzo Palladiana, a multi-colour marble chip with an elegantly patterned border, and the last room features an inlay in oak.

A commemorative plaque testifies to the great cultural significance these premises hold:
In this room, on the evening of 11 November 1926, the “Premio Bagutta”, the oldest literary prize in Italy, was established, taking its name from the Bagutta restaurant that was on these premises. Thanks to the convivial atmosphere, the composition of the jury, and consistency in the choice of the winning genres (poetry, narrative and essays), the nature of the prize and the love of beautiful literature have remained unaltered down through the years. Over time, the restaurant became a popular meeting place for artists, painters and literati; today, Cesare Attolini has taken over these premises and given them new life, leaving the plaque above as testimony to the illustrious names in Italian literature who have won the “Premio Bagutta”.

“We waited a long time before opening a boutique in Milan,” says Massimiliano Attolini, “because we didn’t want just any old address, but one of excellence, one that reflected our positioning capable of asserting important symbolic relevance. When the opportunity arose of buying the premises that for so many years hosted the Premio Bagutta, we did not hesitate for a moment. Because, in addition to the distinctive aesthetics of the first “Neapolitan-style” deconstructed jacket, conceived and created in 1932 by our grandfather Vincenzo and perfected over the years by our father Cesare, our values also include the ethics of knowledge and knowhow.”

“It has all been devised to communicate that timeless elegance that has always made us stand out. Each piece of furnishing is unique, produced by skilled Italian master craftsmen, just like every one of our garments. All our single-brand boutiques are characterised by a shared style approach, and yet each one is unique, designed to express our personality while adapting to its surroundings. In exactly the same way that each of our pieces of tailoring adapts to the physique of the individual client,” explains Giuseppe Attolini.