Ruffo was founded in 1966 by Italian Ruffo Corsi in Calcinala (Tuscany) Near Florence, in Italy. His son Giacomo Corsi is the present President of the company.
For more than 30 years, Ruffo has produced some of the world's finest and luxurious leather garments. In 1991, Ruffo opened a boutique for womenswear and menswear in Milan and in 2002 in Florence.
Many designers have worked at Ruffo, including Antonio Berardi, Veronique Branquinho, Raf Simons, A.F. Vandevorst, Sophie Kokosalakis, Alexandre Matthieu and Haider Ackermann. It is a sort of training establishment for designers.
Ruffo supply high-quality leathers to Jil Sander, Versace and others, in addition to producing their own line.
In 1998 they introduced RUFFO RESEARCH as a more experimental fashion-forward showcase for its masterful leather techniques. They wanted to act as an incubator for cutting-edge design talent, drawing in some of fashion's most gifted up-and-coming designers into it's fold.
Joy Yaffe, is the organizer of the Ruffo Research Project and selects it's designers each season. She feels that guest designers on short-term contracts inject fresh ideas and provide a showcase for the skills of Ruffo's artisans.
Some of the designers who have brought out collections for Ruffo Research are shown below.
1998 Antonio Berardi
In January 2003 however, Ruffo have decided to postpone its collections for Ruffo Research and they did not show their Fall 2003 collection. Ackermann has now left them and is showing his own label.
In May 2004, Ruffo announced that their new designer will be Italian Riccardo Tisci (born 1975). Riccardo attended Central St. Martins Fashion College in London, and has worked with Antonio Berardi, Justin Oh, Missoni and most recently for Coccapani, Milan. His first collection for Ruffo will be Spring/Summer 2005 to be shown in September.