LORENZO CIFONELLI X LORO PIANA FOR THE RAKE AUTUMN-WINTER 21: THE ICONIC COLLECTION
Before unveiling Lorenzo Cifonelli’s new, exclusive collection for The Rake, there is an issue I need to address, and that is that we were late on the deliveries for our first collaboration with Lorenzo. In some instances, inexcusably late. As the founder of this magazine, I want to apologise sincerely to anyone who was affected. I hope that when you received your clothes, you loved them as much as Lorenzo and I do, and feel they are an incredibly strong value proposition for garments so elegant and well made, and made with Loro Piana fabrics.
The reason the clothes were late was simple: we were overwhelmed by the success of the collection, and our suppliers — in particular, our jacket maker — struggled to get the orders made in time at the quality we insisted on. For example, ours is the only jacket at its price point to feature a handmade Milanese buttonhole in the lapel. This is a time-consuming process to execute perfectly. Our jacket maker, with whom Lorenzo worked extensively to perfect the signature Cifonelli fit, is a small producer that was not used to orders of that magnitude. But it was absolutely our mistake and our fault, and again I want to apologise. We have taken measures to make sure this doesn’t happen again. For example, this time around we’ve taken stock positions in what we believe will be the bestselling tailored garments. These will be offered for immediate delivery on a first come, first serve basis exclusively to clients who ordered from our first collection. This is our way of saying we are sorry and we want to do our very best to show you that your happiness is our priority.
That having been said, the new Lorenzo Cifonelli collection is simply extraordinary. To understand how Lorenzo and I embarked on this journey together, to bring you our exclusive collection of his signature garments, we have to go back to
