UNDERCOVER BOSS
Women lust after its indulgent lingerie, but can La Perla entice as much with couture gowns and wardrobe staples? Its millennial head honcho says yes. Keng Yang Shuen reports.
Millennial It girl Chiara Scaglia is transforming La Perla into more than just a sexy lingerie brand.
Before becoming the Asia-Pacific chief executive of La Perla in 2014, Chiara Scaglia was CEO of the then-independent Chinese music label Gold Typhoon. Her Instagram account is peppered with raw, personal images of exotic destinations and out-takes from photocalls with La Perla’s campaign girls Liu Wen and Mariacarla Boscano. It all makes her out to be glamorous yet cool, a touch that she has brought to the Italian luxury lingerie house, where dad Silvio Scaglia is chairman.
Under her tenure, the 63-year-old brand has become a “full 360 fashion label” with accessories, menswear, couture and ready-to-wear, all sold at the brand’s boutique in Takashimaya D.S. Or – as she put it when she was here for the store’s opening in May – a brand with “something for everybody”.
Couture was launched this February and offers the likes of the sheer, crystal-swathed gown Kendall Jenner wore to the 2017 Met Gala, with every piece handmade in Bologna. For local customers, a tailor will measure you in store (an order takes six to eight weeks to complete).
When asked to recommend a must-have, Scaglia promptly suggests a piece from Maison, the signature range that’s as big on sophisticated nightwear as it is on lingerie. “Women wear (the slips) as dresses because one’s fully covered.”
The brand’s ready-to-wear is far from limited to lingerie-inspired styles though. The line, which makes up 20 to 30 per cent of every collection, includes essentials such as pants and knit dresses. All have stretch and are wrinkle-resistant, she says.
A F/W ’17 highlight? A corset jacket with a built-in bra and anatomical stitching. “It will accentuate a woman’s figure without constricting her,” says Scaglia. “What I really admire is how we’ve transformed our insider knowledge of lingerie and the female body (into ready-to-wear).”