Neil Barrett (fashion designer)

Neil Barrett
Born	1965 Devon, England
Nationality	English
Education	Royal College of Art in London
Occupation	Fashion designer
Labels	NEIL BARRETT

Neil Barrett (born Neil Barrett Barber in 1965 in Devon, England) is an English fashion designer, based in Milan, Italy. He gained his reputation and built his business around minimalist menswear.^[1]

Biography

Both Barrett's grandfather and great grandfather were master tailors, inciting an early interest in tailoring.^[2] Following his graduation from the Central Saint Martin's School of Art and Design, Barrett earned his Master’s degree in men's fashion design at the Royal College of Art in London. His designs caught the attention Gucci, where he began his professional career.

Working in Florence for Gucci in the early 1990s, Barrett gained commercial and industrial experience and was quickly promoted to senior menswear designer. After five successful years, he presented a project to Prada, proposing the launch of the company's first designer menswear collection. Under Barrett's direction, Prada became renowned among fashion insiders as the forerunner of "minimalist" menswear.^{[citation needed]}

Neil Barrett (Men's-Women's Accessories)

In 1999, Barrett launched the Neil Barrett brand with his men’s collection. The first, free-standing Neil Barrett brand store opened in the central Tokyo Aoyama shopping district in 2001. Barrett joined the Milan Fashion calendar featuring his men’s collection in January 2002.

Also in 2002, Neil joined forces with the mega-brand Puma, co-branding a collection of athletic shoes, Puma by Neil Barrett, available mostly in clothing stores rather than the traditional network of sports stores. The following year, Puma named Neil Barrett Creative Director for a series of technical collections starting with Italy’s National Football Team. Team Italia wore Neil Barrett’s “on pitch kit” training and formal wear exclusively, ultimately winning the 2006 World Cup title. Barrett became the first fashion designer ever to have exclusively dressed a national football team.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2006, the Neil Barrett women’s collection made its debut during New York Fashion Week.

Following sales—50 million euros in 2007^[3]—Barrett opened a third mono-brand store and first shop mall in Seoul, Korea.

In 2007, Neil began working with artist-architect Zaha Hadid on a concept store that opened in September 2008 in Aoyama, Tokyo. The store concept revolved around a large sculpture, 28 metres long and three metres high, in the central area. The first Zaha Hadid shop-in-shop will open in Joyce Central in Hong Kong in January 2010.

After ten years of production by the Prada Group and Allegri, in its eleventh year Barrett moved production to Tuscany. Factory srl dedicates 90 percent of its production to the Neil Barrett collection.

Notes

1. ^ "Latest Shows". New York Fashion. http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/neilbarrett/. 
2. ^ "Personal Shopper : Neil Barrett’s Milan". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/04/26/personalshopper.neilbarrett/index.html. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
3. ^ Alexander, Hilary (2009-02-24). "London Fashion Week: In the front row". Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/london-fashion-week/4799523/London-Fashion-Week-In-the-front-row.html. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 

References

• [1]
• [2]
• [3]
• [4]
• [5]
• [6]
• [7]
• [8]

External links

• [9] Company website
• Neil Barrett (fashion designer) – designer profile at Fashion Model Directory

Persondata
Name	Barrett, Neil
Alternative names
Short description	Fashion Designer
Date of birth	1965
Place of birth	Devon, England
Date of death
Place of death