INTERVIEW

NO RISK, NO GLORY

Even though Enzo Fusco needs no introduction, he still deserves one anyway. A visit to Padua and Montegalda in Italy.

Kenzo, Versace, Armani, Lancetti, Iceberg, Moschino and Yves Saint Laurent – you can’t help but be in awe at the many prestigious fashion brands the designer worked with as a design consultant for many years. But a glimpse at the list also reveals the extent of Enzo Fusco’s influence on the fashion industry. With his company FGF Industry and the brands Blauer USA, Blauer HT, Ten C, Prince Tees and BPD, Enzo Fusco achieved icon status a long time ago. Along with his Italian warmth and kindness, his understanding of timelessness, his passion and expertise and his know-how of textiles still make him one of the best in the industry to this day.

INTERVIEW CHERYLL MÜHLEN PHOTOS MARKUS BRONOLD

ENZO FUSCO A total of 100 employees are part of the FGF team, including at the headquarters, the style office, the Milan showroom and in its stores.

To achieve as much as he has, you can’t be the type of person who stands still. Enzo Fusco is inquisitive, always on the go, never doing nothing. Of course he’s very well-travelled, which is something that has really helped him in his work, as he goes on to tell us. He still draws on his rich experiences today. But he’s also started taking things a bit slower – at least by his own standards. His family meanwhile actively supports him in the company, leaving him more time to devote to his hobbies: not far from his estate, Enzo Fusco grows his own wine, which is celebrating its 25-year anniversary this year. In his 17th century villa, close to the Italian city of Padua, which he has turned into a creative atelier, he proudly shows us the labels for his bottles. It doesn’t take us long to realise that there’s a very fine line between work and private life for him. We sat down with Enzo for a short interview to find out how he solves problems, what inspires him, how he wants to shape the future of Blauer USA and Ten C and where he sees himself in a few years.

FGF’s brand portfolio comprises five brands in total, including Blauer and Ten C. What’s important to you when it comes to differentiating the brands?

First and foremost, it’s important to differentiate in the first place. Not only does each brand offer different products in general, but they are also different in terms of their price ranges, distribution and target groups.

You have been in the business for a very long time now. How do you still keep surprising the industry after decades?

When you’ve been in the industry for so long, it all comes down to experience. But I also put in a lot of work and a lot of passion, as well as research and innovation.

Your passion for military styles along with your vast knowledge of fabrics and their history, attention to detail and commitment to fashion are the key elements of what sets you apart. Longevity and timelessness play a major role for the consumers of your brands, which in turn reflects a fundamental ecoawareness. How do you address the issue of sustainability? What do you already offer?

We started addressing the issue of sustainability early on. By using fillings with recycled materials or high-performance Repreve or Sorona, for example. 10 of our 50 Blauer jackets are lined with Sorona, a high-quality alternative to natural down that is just as effective in terms of filling power, warmth and lightness.

Many in our industry know you mainly through Blauer. Your flagship brand, if you will. Blauer is all about classic American design with Italian passion. Apparently, you own over 40,000 of their archive pieces, which continue to inspire you. What do you think distinguishes the brand to this day and where do you want it to go in the coming years?

Being the owner of an original brand is certainly a source of inspiration and its spirit also remains authentic in its evolution. It’s all comes down to real products with great, tried-and-tested

TEN C

In its own words, Ten C believes in products that are so perfect and so beautiful that they defy obsolescence. Designed by Alessandro Pungetti, its collection of outerwear and knitwear are devoid of any logos or labels, yet still have the fashion factor. Ten C’s ‘forever collection’ principle is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fable ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’. Its USP: the Original Japanese Jersey (OJJ fabric) – a jersey fabric with unique properties that is used and manufactured by Ten C. The material is known for its relative stiffness, becoming softer when worn and adapting and moulding to the wearer’s body. OJJ is made exclusively in Japan and then cut, sewn and dyed by Ten C in Italy.

Repreve has recycled more than 25 billion plastic bottles and is one of the leading and most trusted branded performance fibres made from recycled materials (including plastic bottles). Repreve fibres are already being used by leading worldwide brands, including Enzo Fusco’s FGF Industry, to produce sport, outdoor and fashion clothing. Its process embeds properties like moisture wicking, warmth and cooling, water resistance and lots more in the fibre. Repreve is not only finding a new, meaningful use for plastic waste, but compared to the production of new (or virgin) fibres, also uses less petroleum, fewer greenhouse gases, less water and less energy.

fabrics and details that only military-inspired garments can have. That remains the winning concept of the brand and the USA/ Italy mix has worked very well so far. In addition to the brand’s DNA, our garments are excellent value for money, which guarantees excellent sales in turn. In the future, the goal is to develop the Asian markets that we haven’t ventured into yet.

Compared to Blauer, Ten C takes a very progressive approach fashion-wise. This shows that function can be translated in a versatile way. What target groups are you aiming for with Ten C? Where do you see the brand within the market?

Today, Ten C is sold in the top 300 stores all over the world – we plan to double that in a short time and also want to start thinking about a retail development that could boost the brand image. Its positioning is similar to that of brands such as Moncler, Stone Island and Prada, but the target group is wider due to its unique styles and fabrics, which make it very wearable and attractive for a broad range of age groups.

How do you evaluate the development of outerwear in the past decade and where do you think the market is headed?

During this past decade, a great evolution has changed the style and increased the amount of research in high-performance and technical materials for maximum comfort. Customers are looking for lightweight, warm and versatile garments. The trend, also due to the climate, is to dress in more layers. Customers are always looking for items that can guarantee the right technical features in addition to a fashionable style.

You once said, “I’m not a traditional designer, I’ve learned more on the streets than in any classroom.” How does that approach still benefit you these days?

You can really learn a lot if you love to travel and observe people all over the world. I was so lucky to have the chance to travel. That ongoing research helps me to this day. I created a really unique archive, which is still a continuous source of inspiration thanks to all the garments I collected around the

BLAUER

Founded in 1936 by Louis Blauer in Boston, the company supplied the police, marines and other armed forces with technical clothing. Over the decades, Blauer gained a worldwide reputation as the best producer of uniforms for public-service organisations – which it still has to this day. Nowadays, Blauer is reinterpreting the concept of the uniform in a modern, fashionable way. In 2001, Enzo Fusco’s holding company FGF Industry signed a licensing contract with Blauer to launch the brand on the fashion market. In 2017, FGF Industry acquired a 50 percent share in the brand.

globe over many years; that’s really important and fundamental for my work and the archive includes years of my research, with different styles from key moments in fashion from different eras using fabrics that you can’t get anymore.

There have been many disruptive periods within the industry recently. What have you been able to learn from them for your family business?

No risk, no glory. I learned to deal with problems without anxiety – also thanks to the support of my family. I discuss crucial strategies and decisions with them and they always end up being the right ones. I learned that good results come from working as a team.

Looking back on such a successful career, what are you most proud of?

I am very proud of what I have achieved and the joy that this work still gives me. I hope to continue playing a role in this wonderful world of fashion for a while longer.

SORONA – PLANT-BASED FOR A BETTER FUTURE

Since the early 1900s, DuPont has been revolutionising the world of fibres and polymers: from the first plastic-coated fabrics developed in the 1910s to ground-breaking fibres like versatile nylon, neoprene rubber, bullet-resistant Kevlar and even Tyvek. Sorona is the latest innovation from the US company and also meets the current global demand for sustainably produced fabrics. The fibre is 37 percent plant-based, uses up to 30 percent less energy and emits 50 percent fewer greenhouse gases than the production of nylon from non-renewable resources. And as the Sorona polymer is partially plantbased, it reduces the reliance on fossil-based materials.