MILAN, Italy — On occasion of the Pitti Immagine Bimbo in Florence which took place from 26th to 28th June – a renowned international platform where the new trends for children are presented twice a year – I had the chance to meet Piero Iacomoni, Founder and Chairman of Monnalisa Spa.
A Leading Company in Children’s Wear
Monnalisa is one the leading companies in children’s wear worldwide , it was founded in 1968 in Arezzo (Italy) by Piero Iacomoni and Barbara Bertocci, Creative Director. Monnalisa is a lifestyle, elegant and versatile brand that today has six collections for girls (Monnalisa bebè, Monnalisa, Monnalisa Chic, Monnalisa Couture, Jakioo, Fun) and one for boys (Hitch-Hiker) – from 0 to 16 years old. A romantic flair with a contemporary taste is present in all Monnalisa’s collections which inevocably allures to the excellence of true inspiration and the “Made in Italy”.
Let’s discover “Monnalisa’s World” in an exclusive interview with Piero Iacomoni for the FG Magazine.
Interview Piero Iacomoni
Monnalisa has nearly 50 years of history, how did the company change over the years? How would you define Monnalisa today? Did you achieve the goals you had when you started?
I founded this company 46 years ago and it has changed dramatically throughout years. Monnalisa was born as a small craft business and then evolved into a family business. Today it has become a solid and structured firm, with a high reputation and distributed in 60 countries around the world – a big change. One thing though that has never changed is our mission: which has always been excellence and our vision: to innovate, always. Today I look at things from another perspective as head of the Board of Directors. I look back with great pride, and to the future with great optimism as the best is yet to come for our brand!
What differentiates Monnalisa from other children’s wear companies?
In our field, Monnalisa is the only company that does not produce under license. This choice provides even more honor to our turnover which accounts to over 40 million euro obtained only with our brand. What makes us different from our competitors? We do everything to be different: the identity of our product is very strong and a Monnalisa garment is recognisable because it has a great emotional content, mixed with attention to quality, design research and innovation.
The name Monnalisa immediately evokes an Italian soul, is there a story about the choice of this name?
The choice of name is linked to a trip I made when I was 19 years old, when I was looking for my way in life. I went from Italy to Paris with a Lambretta motorbike and my first stop was the Louvre. I saw a crowd of people in the contemplation of an oil painting. An icon of the painting, one of the world’s best known works, signed by a great Italian genius, Leonardo da Vinci. At that moment, I decided that it was the right name for my ambitious dreams, also because of her recall to perfection and Italian creativity.
What news did you present at Pitti Bimbo?
Following the launch of Couture Collection , last Spring / Summer, this year we presented the Fun line. A very easy, fresh and trendy collection. A new challenge for us, dynamic and contemporary items that the young girls will love. We love doing new things. We like to put ourselves to the test. I think that Fun is the most suitable name to represent our amazing energy!
