La Perla

founded by

Ada Masotti

belongs to

JH Partners

about

As Italy�s sexiest brand, the company is a leading creator of luxurious and fashionable lingerie, nightwear, swimwear, and loungewear for women and men since 1954. In 1954, Ada Masotti, an artisan skilled in the tradition of hand crafted Bolognese corsetry opens a lingerie boutique in Bologna. The name �La Perla� was inspired by the jeweler�s case lined with red velvet in which the first creations were transported. Operating from a city famous for its highly developed textile industry, Masotti simply used top quality fabrics to create exclusive and select underwear focusing initially on corsetry. She intimately appreciated and demonstrated an uncanny anticipation of women�s desires and body shape, designing a collection of lingerie that flawlessly complemented Christian Dior�s �New Look�, a major fashion trend of the time.

After starting with traditional skin-tones, La Perla introduced new colored lingerie in the 1960s. Additionally, la perla introduced a series of co-ordinates in pure �B.B. style� in woven, chequered, and flowered prints with lace inserts, and a range of co-ordinates that match black lace bras with girdles of colored flowers.

After many years of success in the lingerie industry. La Perla is poised to enter the world of swimwear fashion with the brand La Perla Beachwear in 1971, combining charming aesthetics with a continued search for new designs and constant inspiration from Haute Couture. In the same year, La Perla presented the first triangle bra in a silk nightgown.

After the feminist movement, lingerie reappeared in great style showing off more lace, silk, and fundamental time in the history of lingerie, as it marked the first use of elastic lace by La Perla, in line with the fashion of the time that expects close fitting clothing and natural shapes in 1978.

By the 1980s La Perla had became a large group specializing in different areas of lingerie and swimwear. This important know-how allowed La Perla to diversify. The brand leader La Perla is joined by malizia, which over the course of the years begins to define its own identity, as well as the swimwear brand Annaclub.

In 1983 La Perla launched the first wide-shouldered body made entirely of elastic lace, a model which is a prelude to the so-called �under jackets�, new lingerie items intended to be partly seen. Simultaneously, La Perla offered underwear for a romantic, refined, and seductive woman.

In 1986 La Perla Perfume was born. The bottle, a winding shape that evoked the feminine figure, is created by the famous designer Pierre Dinand to contain a perfume expressing the essence of La Perla�s style: luxury and seduction.

In 1991, the first La Perla boutique are openend at the heart of the international fashion capitals of Milan & Paris.

La Perla also has a small ready-to-wear operation launched in 2002, which until recently was shown during Milan's Fashion Week and designed by Alessandro Dell'Acqua. Though Dell'Acqua left the company in 2008 after four years, La Perla's ready-to-wear is still produced by licensee Mariela Burani, though It does not fit under the new corsetry collection labels.

In 2003, inspired by a refined and playful sense of the erotic it includes a special line of corsetry and accessories, and interpreting the desire of fantasy, La Perla creates the sexy chic collection of La Perla Black Label. In 2008, La Perla unveils the Limited Edition Collection, where the art of fillgree inspires the new line of La Perla jewellery-lingerie. Utilizing precious metals and trims the inagural collection is trimmed with 14 carat gold fibers!

Since October 2008 the company has been owned by JH Partners, a San Francisco based private equity firm established in 1986 and focused on investments in growth oriented middle: market consumer products and services companies. With a particular emphasis on luxury brands. Under the new ownership, La Perla continues to fascinate its devoted fans by creating its glamorous lingerie and swimwear styles dripping with beauty and luxury.