exquisite silk, cashmere, cotton and linen. They garnered a name for themselves as a result of the unusual colours and patterns they developed. In 1983 the fabrics company became the Etro fashion company, which began making high quality ties, cloths and scarves. 1985 saw the market launch of their first range of home accessories to which a complete home collection was added in 1990. The first women’s and men’s fashion collections were showcased in 1988. In 1994 Etro presented the first fashion show of its collections. Emotional experiments. The company has been on the up and up ever since. Frequently, sales of the collections outstrip supplies. Obviously, Veronica welcomes this development: after all, it ensures the future of the company. «My work is a highly emotional venture. I observe everything, write my feelings down and share inspiring ideas with my creativity team. My notebook accompanies me from the time I get up in the morning to when I go to bed late at night. What remains is the confidence and certainty of leading our parents’ company into a successful future and making lots of people very happy with our clothes and products,» says a delighted Veronica. Colours and patterns for inspiration – fragrances for the soul. Etro, a family-run company, has now achieved global fame. The name doesn’t just stand for extravagant, flamboyant fashion. For years now, in addition to exclusive leatherware and high quality accessories for the home, the range of luxury goods has also been rounded off by a line of exquisite perfumes for years. Each perfume creation can be worn on its own or in combination with other Etro fragrances. They’re in a class of their own. In every respect.
30-31 | CULT
A little speedster makes it big. 66 years of Vespamania. For many people, summer without a Vespa is like winter without snow. Few other vehicles have made history in quite the same way as the Vespa. In 1946 the realignment of the Piaggio company, an aircraft manufacturer during the Second World War, resulted in a motor scooter that went on to become a cult phenomenon, dominating the everyday life of entire generations. Even today, it still epitomises the very essence of Italian lifestyle. Photo Vespa
Lift-off into an uncertain future. The story begins in 1945 when the company founded by Rinaldo Piaggio in 1884 was forced to look around for a new line of business. At the end of the 19th and at the start of the 20th century Piaggio had been extremely successful in the fields of shipbuilding, railway construction and later in aircraft production. The end of the Second World War not only put a stop to aircraft production: war production ceased entirely. This parlous state of affairs, and the fact that the population needed a low-cost means of transport simply to get around, provided Enrico Piaggio – who together with his brother Armando had taken over the family business after the death of his father, Rinaldo Piaggio, in 1938 – with the idea of developing a motorised scooter which everyone could afford. Necessity is the mother of invention. Enrico trusted completely in his intuition and assigned the task of designing and building such a vehicle to aviation engineer Corrado D’Ascanio. It was a slightly bizarre decision: D’Ascanio had no previous experience of building motorbikes. Even so, it meant that he was able to adopt a completely unbiased approach to the project. The vehicle was revolutionary in comparison to other two-wheelers of the time: It was built of sheet metal parts which could be manufactured on Piaggio’s idle presses. Since there were hardly any drive chains just after the war, the designer invented a little two-stroke engine with a cylinder capacity of 98 cm³ and a direct drive. The front wheel suspension was simply borrowed from aircraft designs and the wheels chosen were the type used on wheelbarrows – for although they were, in fact, much too small for a scooter, at least they were available. The headlight was placed on the front mudguard and everything painted in «Mussolini green» – a colour still widely available just after the war. When Enrico Piaggio finally sat on the «M 6» prototype with its characteristically wide lower section and its slim waist he exclaimed: «It looks just like a wasp!» The Vespa (or «wasp» in English) – Piaggio’s first scooter – was born. The Vespa as the epitome of lifestyle. Gradually, riding about on a Vespa became synonymous with values such as freedom, informality and independence among the population. Piaggio’s new scooter suddenly symbolised a very special lifestyle. Photo-shoots and film sets are a good example: the Vespa has always been a stalwart accessory of the stars such as Raquel Welch, Ursula Andress, Geraldine Chaplin, Joan Collins, Jayne Mansfield, Virna Lisi, Milla Jovovich, Marcello Mastroianni, Charlton Heston, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Gary Cooper, Anthony Perkins, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Nanni Moretti, Sting, Antonio Banderas, Matt Damon, Gérard Depardieu, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson. As they say: Ride a Vespa and bring on the summer!