Italian Heritage Knitwear Brand Avon Celli Sets Relaunch
MILAN — “This brand is not my thing.” This is how fashion entrepreneur Cristina Calori kicked off an interview about the relaunch of Italian heritage knitwear brand Avon Celli. It might sound awkward to hear that from someone who is presenting a new project, but it actually says a lot about Calori’s approach to business.
Calori is the president of WP Lavori in Corso, a Bologna, Italy-based group that manages and distributes a range of international brands. In particular, the company owns the Baracuta and BD Baggies labels, and distributes Barbour and Blundstone.
“We are very focused on heritage brands, but they are all in the outdoors, more sporty and casual segment,” Calori explained. “Avon Celli is a heritage brand, but it’s positioned in the luxury arena and that’s why I decided to keep it separate from the other labels.”
Fully aware of the differences separating her traditional business from the luxury arena, for the relaunch of Avon Celli, Calori decided to team with Milan-based showroom 247, which will distribute the label’s collections starting from the spring 2022 sales campaign, beginning this week.
The Italian entrepreneur acquired Avon Celli about a decade ago, but the project remained on the shelf for a while. “I was too busy doing other things, but when I sold Woolrich, I finally had more time to dedicate to other things and here we go,” she explained.
Founded in Milan by Pasquale Celli in 1922, Avon Celli had a golden moment in the ’90s, when the company was not only selling successful knitwear collections under the Avon Celli brand, but was also the exclusive knitwear manufacturer of a range of luxury labels, including Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.
