OUR HISTORY

INTRODUCING D'AVENZA

The d’Avenza brand was born in 1976, but its origins came from Crewe – the parent company was Chester Barrie, which in 1935 revolutionized the market by offering ‘ready-to-wear’ on a large scale combined with the excellence of bespoke workmanship.

1976 was a difficult year and Chester Barrie was taken over by a retail giant and the general Manager, Tony Clay, was inspired to carry on the manufacturing where he saw a glorious future in Italy and so d’Avenza became a reality. The garments were of such high esteem that it took the luxury tailoring industry by storm, the label dedicated the name to the town of origin quickly became a world leader. It employed 600 people to make the handmade garment of an insurmountable quality. The company continued to grow until it had a three-year waiting list with requests from Europe and the United States from Australia to Japan, reaching its zenith in the mid-1980s.

Unfortunately Tony became ill in 1987 and the only one remaining from the Chester Barrie/Simon Ackerman dynasty returns from Italy to England in convalescence and leaves behind a board of directors that brings d’Avenza to bankruptcy. Renato Cecchi took over the company in 1994 and tried for twenty years to re-launch the brand, but failed by choosing a management team not up to the task. Cecchi then sells the history linked to the d’Avenza craftsmen to Cucinelli.

In the mean time Tony Clay’s son Jonathan that learned the trade from his father has gone on to develop his own company in London after working with the best tailors on Savile Row and the most prestigious fashion houses in Paris. His company thrives and Jonathan returns to Carrara where he decides to search for master tailors that once made the brand so famous and restart the legacy that was passed down by his father.

d’Avenza wears the greates characters in the world including the 4 american presidents (Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and Barak Obama). d’Avenza produces for the most luxurious shops in the world its clothing items including Bijan, Amir, Michael Reslan and many many others.