Umit Benan is on the rise

The most prominent brand in Milan this weekend is Umit Benan, which has been present here for almost twenty years, but which has just moved up a gear.

A naturally gifted tailor, Turkish Benan opened a superb new Milanese shop on Friday, an attractive mixture of stainless steel and mahogany. Located in the center of Via Bigli 6, it is right in front of the brand new Umit Benan showroom, where he presented his latest men’s creations and his first collection for women.

In 2007, he caused a sensation in Milan with his first collections “Turkish Gents Goes International”. This year, however, it is inspired by the golden age of Italian male fashion, the 80s, with strong echoes of Gianni Versace and, above all, Gianfranco Ferré at their best level.

The new partner of Umit, Davide de Giglio, one of the founders of New Guards Group, known to hold the Off-White license, the brand created by Virgil Abloh, finance and supervises this new moment.

Benan has experienced ups and downs as a brand, but never creative – he has always managed to imagine original clothes. In recent years, he has focused on private customers, including Giglio, which has enabled him to establish a new link with the final consumer. Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Lewis Hamilton and Pedro Pascal are among the other Benan fans.

“I have always managed to design clothes to dress real people. Today, everything is much higher. My jackets and tailors are made by Caruso,” said Umit, in reference to the legendary men’s clothing factory.

The price of a jacket has therefore increased from 1,200 to 3,000 euros, which results in an impeccable finish and hand. Most mesh clothes are made from wires supplied by Loro Piana, while the reversible leather and nylon jackets, very elegant, are made of venetia.

The clothes are elegant and stylish, but never predictable, and are more like parade looks than shop clothes.

“I wanted a silhouette of the 80s, with a slightly padded shoulder line, such as the rail jackets, but without rigidity. I work with superior quality fabrics and 60-year-old tailors, which is a source of inspiration,” he smiles.

The 45-year-old Turkish designer also presented a new female line called Umit Benan Paradiso, ideal for Saint-Barth or Punta del Este. During an incredible week for the Umit family, his wife gave birth to a little boy named Kai, who added to their daughter Maia, two years old, Thursday.

Their family home is located in the middle of the canals of Navigli, in the south of Milan, but his business is in the heart of the city. This is the case of its fabulous new store, equipped with low tables and retro-modern steel chairs, superb wicker armchairs and Beuys prints, under the leadership of Thaddaeus Ropac.

To underline his confidence in the future, his partner of Giglio, rich and experienced, acquired a 55% participation in the house via D Capital, which also controls Santa Maria Novella, the famous Florentine pharmacy and the perfume manufacturer.

“What am I bringing to Umit Benan? The most useful thing is the mistakes of the past of New Guards committed for ten wonderful years. This experience teaches us above all what does not work,” said De Giglio in the Milanese daily MF Fashion.

De Giglio is on the rise, since he participated in the funding of the Hailey Bieber Rhode cosmetics brand, which has just been sold for $ 1 billion.

Next step for Umit Benan: shops in London and Los Angeles. “But, please do not call them stores; these are connection points,” concludes Umit Benan.