Umberto Angeloni is a proud citizen of the nation of Flux. If you are unable to find this unique principality on a map, it’s because you need to cast your eyes skywards. Because Flux lives in the air. It is borne on clouds. Its geographical boundaries are defined by the interior of the plane’s cabin. From 1990 to 2007, Angeloni served as the president of Brioni and multiplied the brand’s revenues tenfold. He did this by winning over hearts and minds the world over; he did this through constant, unabated travel. As he puts it: “Italy gave me my cultural imprint, Africa my strongest emotions, North America my professional bearing, and Flux my self-awareness.”
Angeloni’s current occupation is C.E.O. of a company called Caruso. Even if you’ve never heard of it, chances are that you already own a garment made by him. Because Caruso has for decades been the pre-eminent maker of tailored garments for most of the world’s luxury brands. But when Angeloni began to think of launching his own vision for Caruso menswear, he decided to move forwards the story of tailoring. He decided to create beautifully crafted clothes that express a pared-back simplicity and dance along the precipice between formality and sport with boldness and grace. He decided to design clothes inspired by his home capital of Flux.
As a fellow frequent habitué of Flux, having clocked up in excess of half a million air miles last year, I share Angeloni’s appreciation of our sky-borne nation. As Angeloni says, “An elected homeland, a place of origin and a destination all at once”. Like him, I realise how frequent travel has shaped my worldview, in particular as it relates to paring away the superfluous and focusing on the essential. One day our conversation turned to the travel wardrobe, and how a man could leave for a crucial trip for a city like New York or Paris and take all that he needed in a cabin-size travel bag, like the sublime Bennett Winch Weekender model we carry. It began with shaping the context.
