MILAN — “I was thinking something a little more ambitious…La Perla. Black. Peignoir. Classical silk. Diaphanous in presentation,” said Edward “Eddie” Horniman, Theo James’ character in season two, episode one of the hit Netflix series “The Gentleman.”

The line, which highlights the sophistication and mystique associated with “old money” aesthetics, has generated considerable organic exposure for the Italian luxury innerwear brand at a pivotal moment in its recent history.

La Perla’s new course is stepping onto the global stage this week, as the storied brand joins the Milan Fashion Week calendar after a few tumultuous years.

Newly installed chief executive officer Alessio Vannetti, a Gucci and Valentino alum, sounded upbeat last week as he teased his strategy ahead of Saturday’s presentation of collection #00, intended as a palate cleanser to reinstate the storied firm’s ethos.

In Vannetti’s view, that is primarily “the perfect intersection between couture and ready-to-wear” and its “industrial vocation.”

The executive was brought onboard earlier this month by La Perla’s newish owner, the American industrial entrepreneur Peter Kern who, with his wife Kirsten, acquired the brand in 2025 for 30 million euros through Luxury Holdings II LLC. La Perla had been declared insolvent after changing hands several times over the last decade. The founding Masotti family first sold it to JH Partners in 2007, then Silvio Scaglia bought it in 2013, and finally it was sold in 2018 to Tennor, then called Sapinda.

Vannetti is tasked with writing a new chapter for the innerwear brand, which he bills as a true “contemporary lingerie maison de couture” that amid ebbs and flows has retained its mystique and appeal to global customers. In addition to the mention on “The Gentleman,” the brand made a cameo in Rosalía’s videoclip for the hit single “Berghain.”

“These placements happened organically at a moment when the brand was completely off the radar, and they are a sign of how desired La Perla is…it’s an indicator of the brand’s awareness, power and clear positioning,” Vannetti said. “For better or worse, we don’t have a real competitor,” he contended.

A veteran fashion executive with marketing acumen, Vannetti highlighted that the foundation of his reboot strategy is the atelier in Bologna.

“I became passionate about the project because it offered the opportunity to rebuild something from the ground up — from the factory, the collections and the brand’s mastery, rather than starting with an industrial or marketing plan that overstated the brand’s manufacturing capabilities,” he said.

Kern rehired all 223 La Perla employees, including seamstresses, last December with the goal to continue to manufacture the brand in Italy, mainly in the Bologna headquarters, which officially reopened in January. The factory had been de facto shuttered for the previous three years.

“We have to start from rediscovering the factory in Bologna, the history of the product and the atelier….The company was founded by a woman [Ada Masotti] for women. She was a genius,” Vannetti said enthusiastically.

He went on to single out several industrial secrets and operational practices that have historically turned La Perla into a globally recognized and sought-after brand. These include the “frastaglio” technique, an antique Florentine hand-embroidery, the unmolded cups, soutache and Cornelly embroidery — just a few of the distinctive crafts that the brand continues to master. They often require the adaptation of sewing and cutting machines, carried out in-house, not only by the experienced seamstresses but also by a four-member team of mechanics.

Vannetti said that in 2027 La Perla will launch an academy to preserve the know-how and train new artisans. This is not just part of the business strategy but also a give-back initiative aimed at the Bologna district, known for its corsetry tradition. The brand’s founder herself trained at the local Scuola Artigianale di Corsetteria in town before launching La Perla in 1954.

The executive said he is engaged daily with trade unions that have played a crucial role in the pre-Kern disrupted years.

Without giving away too much about the #00 collection, Vannetti said a focus on the lingerie brand’s icons will take center stage at its first presentation, with reissues of archival designs and techniques, flanked by a new line called Metropolis, drawn from Masotti’s motto: “never compromise on quality, and always innovate.”

The collection — developed by the design studio headed by chief product officer Barbara Zappoli for the past 20 years — will also include a swimwear offering.

As part of the new ownership deal, La Perla has reacquired all its licenses — such as Malizia and Grigio Perla — and paused them, as well as the men’s line to fully focus on the core business.

Vannetti framed La Perla’s potential within the broader appeal of lingerie, which moves beyond innerwear and into ready-to-wear.

“That opens up new opportunities for us. [La Perla’s lingerie] is not just a luxury product; it also combines innovation and craftsmanship in a way that brings pleasure,” the CEO said.

The sales campaign for the #00 collection has already started with early indicators of success, he contended. It will make its retail debut in November.

“As soon as the [brand’s] reopening was announced, we were contacted again by numerous department stores and specialty stores, as well as by foreign partners who expressed interest in distributing our collections in their countries,” Vannetti said.

With the reboot, La Perla has created a newsletter program, with about 100,000 subscribers, ahead of the relaunch of a full-fledged e-commerce site in due course.

The executive is mindful of avoiding overexposure. He characterized earlier attempts at rebooting the brand as inconsistent with the atelier’s production capabilities.

“Today, we want to move at the pace that the business can sustain to get a healthy profitability, while keeping up with market priorities,” he explained, citing Italy and the U.S. as two of the key markets.