This Italian Lingerie Brand Was Saved by Seamstresses—and an American Couple
La Perla’s employees lobbied to rescue ‘the holy grail of intimate apparel’
As the lingerie company where they had worked for decades plunged into financial insolvency, the seamstresses of La Perla took a stand.
They lobbied the European Parliament. They held up chains of hand-holding paper dolls. They set up a workbench outside their shuttered atelier showing they were ready to work. After more than a year of campaigning, the Perlines—as the La Perla seamstresses called themselves—got their wish.
The Italian government brokered a sale of the Bologna-based company to an American couple, and the roughly 100 seamstresses were reinstated to their jobs.
Thanks to the handsewn craftsmanship of its seamstresses, La Perla’s lacy bras, panties and lingerie are esteemed as among the world’s finest. The lingerie is worn by Hollywood stars, photographed in Vogue magazine shoots and featured in television hits like “Sex and the City” and “Emily in Paris.”
Now new owners Peter and Kirsten Kern are betting they can revive the old-world craft firm.
The new old course of La Perla shows both the appeal and challenge of running an artisanal business. Ultraluxury brands command devoted customers and high prices thanks to the bespoke work of their artisans, but skilled craftspeople require years of training and come at a high cost.
Most companies, including many luxury brands, are looking for ways to save on labor expenses. For certain firms like La Perla, however, their workers are central to their allure and prospects.
After their appeals saved the lingerie maker, the seamstresses will play a key role in the turnaround efforts of La Perla’s new ownership. The company, which will eventually invest in stores again, is hosting trunk shows —where designers bring their collections to particular stores—and where the seamstresses will work with customers.
“What these women do is unbelievable in terms of the craftsmanship and the attention to detail,” said Kirsten Kern. “We were committed to keeping everything about the employees and the quality from day one. We were never interested in just taking the brand and running away with it.”
The Kerns are doubling down on the company’s handmade products—and the crafts workers behind them—at an especially challenging moment for luxury retailers.
Economic uncertainty has tempered demand among even the wealthiest clients who had lifted sales for years, while aspirational shoppers are recoiling from persistent price increases. Luxury spending fell 1% to 3% to $1.67 trillion globally last year from a year earlier, Bain & Co. estimated.
This past week, luxury behemoth LVMH, Gucci owner Kering and Birkin bag maker Hermès International all warned about the impact of the Iran war on big spending consumers in the Middle East.
Yet La Perla has something most other brands don’t: pent-up demand from customers who haven’t been able to buy the company’s products for the past two years.
“We were all taught that La Perla was the holy grail of intimate apparel,” said Tina Wilson, a designer in the body-wear industry who made a point of going to the company’s stores whenever traveling in Europe. She plans to keep checking in at department stores like Bergdorf Goodman and Saks to see if they will carry the brand again, and said she would search for the brand on her next trip to Italy.
Founded in Bologna in 1954 by an Italian corsetry maker named Ada Masotti, La Perla’s lingerie became high fashion. Its lacy bras were worn by the likes of Beyoncé, Margot Robbie and Miley Cyrus, occasionally revealed under sheer fabrics or plunging necklines, blurring the line between underwear and outerwear.
At its peak, La Perla notched annual sales topping 250 million euros, the company said, the equivalent of about $295 million.
In 2007, its ownership started changing hands, passing through at least three different owners, most recently a U.K.-based private-equity firm called Tennor.
Costly real estate was a big reason the company struggled. It had overbuilt its retail footprint with flagship stores, in many cases larger than necessary, in the most prestigious shopping districts around the world.
The Kerns had been longtime fans of the brand. A Mother’s Day tradition was for Peter to buy Kirsten a gift from La Perla. The couple own a vineyard in Italy, and they were spending more time there—Peter had stepped down from travel company Expedia after 19 years on the board and four years as chief executive—when they came across the opportunity to buy the company.
The Kerns struck the deal last June for an initial investment of 25 million euros, while also committing to keeping the brand in Italy and rehiring about 200 employees, including the seamstresses.
The seamstresses are central to the brand’s effort to maintain its quality and prestige. The artisans perform complicated sewing tasks, like putting lace on silk, that can take about four hours per garment.
La Perla’s prices reflect the time seamstresses spend on the work. Its bras typically range from $225 to $650, and special editions cost more.
Most of the seamstresses have been at the atelier for 30 to 35 years. Many joined after high school and spent years mastering tasks like pattern making—taking a sketch from a designer and turning it into the pattern that is used to then make the garments.
“The human touch is the real essence of La Perla,” said Barbara Zappoli, chief product officer at the atelier. “It’s about women making things with their hands for other women.”
While La Perla ramps up production and prepares for its global relaunch this fall, it’s reconnecting with customers again through trunk shows, but with the seamstresses on site. La Perla will hold such an event at Harrods department store in London in May.
The Kerns also want to train more seamstresses to build up La Perla’s production over the long term.
The company is now looking to work with technical and design schools in Italy to attract younger talent. The training, which will be conducted by senior artisans, will be extensive: Senior patternmakers require up to eight years of training.
“The artistry of what we do is in the people,” said Peter Kern. “It’s the renaissance of a great craft of a brand with iconic history.”