MILAN — Alberto Masotti, the former owner and president of La Perla, died on Friday morning in Bologna. He was 90.
Masotti stepped down from his position at La Perla in 2007 with the arrival of San Francisco-based private equity firm JH Partners, which took full control of the group in 2008.
“With Alberto Masotti, La Perla loses the man who took his mother’s Bologna atelier to the world without ever taking it away from Bologna,” said Alessio Vannetti, chief executive officer of the innerwear brand since Sept. 1. “What he built lives on every day in the hands of our artisans and we feel the full responsibility of carrying it forward with the same care. Our thoughts are with Anna and the entire Masotti family.”
Vannetti, a former Gucci and Valentino executive, joined La Perla’s new owners Peter and Kristen Kern, who last year, through the Luxury Holdings LLC, acquired La Perla. The business had been declared insolvent after changing hands for years. After the Masotti family sold it JH Partners, Silvio Scaglia bought the business in 2013 and finally it was sold in 2018 to Tennor, then called Sapinda.
Kern rehired La Perla’s 220 seamstresses with the goal to keep manufacturing the brand in Italy, mainly in the Bologna headquarters.
The brand was founded in 1954 by Ada Masotti, Alberto’s mother. Before the sale to JH Partners, his daughter Anna was design coordinator for the brand, while the ready-to-wear line shown on the runway during Milan Fashion Week was designed by Alessandro Dell’Acqua, a contract that expired with the spring 2009 season.
At the time, the group’s portfolio of brands included La Perla, La Perla Black Label, La Perla Prêtà Porter, La Perla Studio, La Perla Glamour, Malizia by La Perla, Joelle by La Perla, AnnaClub by La Perla, Occhi Verdi, Aquasuit and underwear and beachwear collections for men, Grigioperla and Grigiosport.
Alberto Masotti had a vision for La Perla, while protecting the Italian craftsmanship behind the products made in Bologna. In a WWD interview in 2007, he said La Perla still should be synonymous with lingerie, but that it could also be a comprehensive ready-to-wear and accessories brand as well.
To further deliver a lifestyle concept associated with the brand, Masotti inked licensing agreements with Finduck, parent of Mandarina Duck, for a handbag and small leather goods collection and with footwear company Baldan to produce and distribute a La Perla shoe line. The brand also had licenses with Morris for fragrances and with De Rigo for eyewear and launched a feminine denim line.
Flanked by his wife and La Perla designer Olga Cantelli, Masotti spearheaded an international expansion with boutiques around the world from Beijing and Bangkok to Moscow and Hanoi, in addition to several stores in the U.S.
Ahead of some of his peers, he even went as far as imagining a Palace La Perla in Saudi Arabia containing a spa. “We are working toward the renovation of boutiques to make them a richer place, not only destined for shopping, but also for a more complete entertainment experience,” he said.
To mark the opening of the boutiques in Asia, Masotti worked on creating special events, such as a co-marketing project with Maserati and a collaboration with Swarovski.
After exiting La Perla, Masotti focused on his Fashion Research Italy, a nonprofit organization founded in 2015, with headquarters in Bologna, postgraduate courses and an educational and exhibition hub dedicated to Made in Italy.