Brioni brought its 80th anniversary celebration to New York City on Wednesday with creative director Norbert Stumpfl making a special trip to Bergdorf Goodman to unveil a capsule designed exclusively for the retailer to honor its milestone birthday. The store also devoted four windows on Fifth Avenue to the collection, which will remain through April 30.

The special capsule, which consists of eight looks, is called Sala Bianca, a nod to another milestone in Brioni’s history. “Brioni in 1952 organized the first men’s catwalk show — before, it was only women,” Stumpfl said. That show was held in Florence in the Sala Bianca, which means white room.

But while there are neutrals in the collection, there are also some eye-popping bold blue and green shades.

“It’s a celebration as well,” Stumpfl explained. “And color is very emotional for me. It gives you that extra kick and I think it’s also deeply embedded in Brioni.”

He said when the company was created back in the 1950s, “it was considered elegant for men to wear black, navy, ivory or sometimes deep green dinner jackets. But Brioni would use canary yellow or orange or couture fabrics. So these kind of colors are actually part of our heritage. It’s kind of daring, and you have to make sure the colors are not overpowering, but when you wear them, it gives you an extra lift.”

Yumi Shin, chief merchandising officer of Bergdorf’s, said the store’s men’s customer is not afraid of color. “But it’s not just the color, it’s also the fit that our customer loves,” she said. “It’s not super traditional. It’s a bit more relaxed in the shoulder and it’s become a much more modern take on traditional.”

Stumpfl said as a designer, he strives to create a garment that not only feels light but also allows for movement. “You put it on and forget about it,” he said. “Our clients are very busy and working a lot so they appreciate that very much.”

Among the key pieces in the Sala Bianca collection are a lightweight Soffio Jacket, the Travel Jacket with 13 tailored pockets and the modern Journey Trousers, all of which reflect a blend of heritage and modernity.

Stumpfl acknowledged that designing based on archival pieces while striving to make them relevant for today’s customer is no easy task. “I feel you have to take the essence of the archive, but never repeat it. And that is really important. Just taking a garment out of the archive and redoing it is not something I do very often.”

Instead, he studies the history of the garments and then creates modern interpretations by updating fabrics and silhouettes. As an example, he pointed to the bright blue suit that is made from a silk moire women’s fabric from Como. “Nowadays, the silk moires are not even made in silk anymore. Mostly of the time they’re viscose and they’re printed. But ours is made using the old techniques.”

Although Brioni is still best known as a men’s brand, the company introduced womenswear in the winter of 2022 as a capsule of “five looks embedded into the men’s collection,” he said. Today, that has turned into a stand-alone collection of more than 20 pieces, and it has developed a following. Shin said Bergdorf also carries the women’s line and it is “doing very well.”

“It really started out as a masculine wardrobe for women, which is kind of our base ground,” Stumpfl said. “And then we have seasonal updates in terms of colors or different fabrics. The design starts out with a lot of details, and then we take them off and take them off so it looks like a garment that has always existed. It’s not a museum piece. It’s something you can wear on a day-to-day basis.”

To celebrate the launch of the Sala Bianca capsule, Brioni hosted an intimate cocktail party at Goodman’s Bar inside the Bergdorf’s men’s store for customers and friends of the house who enjoyed cocktails such as Tuscan Gin Tonic and Brioni Negroni and canapés inspired by traditional Roman cuisine served on Ginori 1735 ceramics.

Stumpfl, who said he visits New York a couple of times a year, said he was only staying two days on this trip. But while here, he planned to soak in the atmosphere. “I just walk down the streets. I’m always an observer of people.” He also planned to visit art galleries, look at stores and visit with clients. “I love to know what people are thinking and doing which creates inspiration for me to try and come up with something good for Brioni,” he said.