Sarah LesslerAlessandro Albanese remains true to his roots and understated aesthetic.
PHOTOS BY Jonas Matyassy
I noticed the impeccable work of Alessandro Albanese long before I met him. It was during a business lunch, where I sat across from a fashionable colleague wearing an exquisitely tailored jacket with an equestrian cut. We went our separate ways, but the cut, flawless fit, and quality of the jacket made such an impression on me that I Googled the physical description of the logo on the pocket and discovered Italian equestrian-apparel designer Alessandro Albanese.
An interview followed, and I discovered a talented, passionate, and charismatic man with just the right balance of self-assurance and humility. He was happily immersed in the equestrian world, but it wasn’t always that way.Alessandro grew up in Turin, Italy, and embodies much of what one con-siders quintessentially Italian. More succinctly, he can put on a T-shirt and jeans and make them transcendent. He sees beauty everywhere—in architecture, art, fashion, and the exquisite craftsman-ship and attention to detail that is rooted in Italy’s design heritage.
He was an engineer for the first 10years of his business career. “I was working as a project manager designing cars, aircraft, and that kind of thing, but it wasn’t my real destiny,” said Alessandro. “Envision this person who goes to his office every day, week after week. It’s dark when you go into the office in the morning and dark when you go home—you rarely see sunlight. This was my life for 10 years”.
But quite unexpectedly, an opportu-nity was presented to Alessandro while he was on a beach holiday in Italy. He met a man who wanted to expand his line of equestrian riding boots outside of Italy. He was en route to a horse show in France, but he didn’t speak the language, so he invited Alessandro, who was fluent in French, to go with him. It was there that he got his first glimpse into the equestrian world.
“Imagine how I suddenly jumped into this horse show in a beautiful location, with nice people all around. I was in France, out in the open, fresh air, and I thought—this is business? This is just having fun,” Alessandro laughed. “Every night I was in a nice hotel and restaurant in Paris or Monte Carlo. It felt more like a holiday than working.”
Alessandro kept his day job but started selling his friend’s riding boots during weekends. He discovered local horse shows around Milan, Genoa, and Torino—focusing most of his efforts in northwest Italy. He quickly realized how much he enjoyed the lifestyle and took six months to research what kind of business he could develop within the equestrian world.
He looked into the market to see what was missing. “No one was doing a nice, Italian, tailor-made riding coat—no one,” recalled Alessandro. Most of the coats were off the rack. There were some German, British, and French brands, but no one was doing Italian tailor-made. “We have an unbelievable tradition in Italy about clothing. My father is a tailor and has been all his life. I grew up between a sewing machine and my dad cutting fabric, with my mother alongside helping,” he added.
He made a sketch of his first jacket after buying sample riding jackets in the market and studying them. He went to a tailor to make his sample and emphasized the importance of movement in a riding coat. “My dad helped me, but he is an expert in men’s suits, which have nothing to do with a riding coat,” explained Alessandro.
It’s very difficult to go from designing a blazer to a riding coat. You can’t go to a traditional tailor to design a riding coat. It’s impossible.
In May 1998, he took his first jacket sample to the small booth showing his friend’s riding boots and promoted his tailor-made jacket. Over the next few months, Alessandro designed a logo and put a company together. That September, he went to the World Equestrian Games in Rome and introduced his jackets to the world. “That’s where everything started,” explained Alessandro. “It all happened so fast. I already had a solid base of French customers, so I went back to France, then to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain. I quickly found agents all over Europe and Japan, but not in America until 10 years ago.”
He began tailoring coats all over the world with the help of his agents. He then started designing shirts, breeches, sweaters, winter and summer jackets, and sweatshirts. “Some people don’t want to wait for custom shirts and breeches, so I started designing ready-to-wear collections,” he said. “For 17 years, I did a summer and winter collection, and I began to hire people to help me.”
Eventually, he made his way to the U.S. after considerable persuading by Americans he had met in Europe. “I couldn’t figure out why the American business wasn’t taking off,” Alessandro admitted. “I had an agent, but business wasn’t the best, so 10 years ago I went to Florida by myself for two weeks. I sold more coats than my agent did in one year. The next year, I decided to do everything myself. At that point, my English wasn’t that good, and it was incredibly challenging. I had no contacts or sources for setting up at the horse shows. I had to go to the port to pick up the shipping container. I was driving the truck, collecting the items, setting up the displays, while designing and selling.”
With a degree of pride and measured candor, Alessandro took a moment to reflect on what he accomplished in a relatively short period of time. “Eighteen years ago, I started with zero money. Zero means nothing,” mused Alessandro. “Today it would not be possible. It would take too long. I invested the money from every jacket I sold to buy something else. I was slowly building something. I financed myself, and it was not easy. The business was my life for 24/7. I put aside my private life for a long time because I wanted to make it.”
Most would agree that by now he has made it. He said, “I’ve dressed single riders from almost every country, Olympic teams, and national-team riders for Italy, France, Ukraine, Denmark, Qatar, Emirates, Australia, America, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and many more.”
The American Market
Alessandro started to grow his business in the U.S. year after year. Initially traveling to Florida in the winter, he began to expand his reach to horse shows up and down the East Coast, in Kentucky, and eventually California. But then the U.S. market started to change—a lot.
“I had profoundly changed the way riders dressed at U.S. horse shows by introducing tight and fitted polo-shirts, breeches, and real tailor-made jackets. This was a big revolution for the U.S. market. Then, strong competition arrived on the scene with big capital, and within five to six years, every Italian equestrian-apparel brand was at WEF,” explained Alessandro, referring to the Winter Equestrian Festival held in Wellington, Florida. “The mentality changed with new washable jackets, and personally I can say, with a big loss of style. It significantly affected the elegance and tradition of such a regal sport. Ultimately, I stayed true to my approach that elegance is timeless.”
Over the years, Alessandro sold his jackets to many of the sport’s premier riders, but he couldn’t, and didn’t want to, compete with big-brand endorsements. “Most of the riders came back to me to buy my clothes at the end of their professional sponsor contracts,” Alessandro admitted. “They said I have the best jackets.”
Turning Point
The industry was changing, and Alessandro realized it was time to critically assess his business. “The moment came when I knew I had to change something,” Alessandro said. “I had no private life. So, I sold the brand. I sold Alessandro Albanese. It was very difficult emotionally. It felt like selling your own child. It was painful because it was my name. Lidia Nagy, my partner and better half, which I call her, was incredibly helpful. She taught me that maybe something better would come from something so difficult.”
Out of respect for the business sale, Alessandro took a one-year break before developing his tailoring line. “First, I made suits, and then I came out with a cashmere line,” he shared. “But most of my customers were equestrians, and I started to get a lot of requests via phone calls, emails, and social media, to make them custom-tailored riding coats. They were looking for me, not for my brand.”
Alessandro added, “It was a bit like going back to the past, creating riding coats again, but this time with 20 more years of experience. I’ve gone to a more technical, super-light, stretch, breathable wool, and I have 70 different color options. Add in the piping and collar variations and the choices are limitless. Imagine choosing a riding coat with all of these options!”
Previously, Alessandro’s jackets were sold through agents and shops. “Now, I know every person I design a jacket for. People know me, and I know them,” he smiled. “I only do private tailoring. I don’t have a pop-up shop. My exclusive customers, which include U.S. ambassadors and Los Angeles movie industry people, are discerning people who are looking for something more than a simple coat. They are style savvy and appreciate elegant design. What I offer them is a unique experience, where we discuss the kind of clothes that will not only look nice on them, but will also reflect their personality.”
In an effort to guarantee the highest quality standards, Alessandro has limited the number of garments he produces each year, and identifies each piece with a production serial number.
The turn-around time for his custom riding jacket is four to five weeks, at an average price of $1,400, and six to seven weeks for a suit or a dress, with prices dependent on the garment and fabric. Alessandro’s new logo, ALE (pronounced al-lay), is his nickname. It’s what his parents and friends from home call him.
“I’m very happy because I do what I love without too much rush and pressure. I get more inspiration and ideas. I was traveling so much before, and now I have time for myself and for my family. I have a quality to my life, and I can offer a better level of service. I even consult for others who had been my competitors in the past,” laughed Alessandro.
He claims there is no one doing what he is doing in the equestrian market today—designing and making a traditional riding coat, with modern, technical materials and completely tailor-made in Italy. The fabrics are from the same supplier he has used for the last 20 years, and his tailor goes back just as long. “They both are from the days when I packed my inventory in a garage,” he smiled.
Alessandro now lives with Lidia and their daughter, Aurora Leticia, in Budapest, Hungary, and Wellington, Florida, as well as Italy, to which he returns every month to personally oversee the quality of each piece produced for ALE. While his business continues to take him all over the world, his Italian heritage still weaves its way into every piece he creates. “When you live in Italy, you are surrounded by extraordinary beauty. It’s my culture. It’s who I am,” admitted Alessandro. “When you grow up with these visually rich surroundings, and have a degree of ambition and passion, anything is possible.”
