Nicola Trussardi (June 17, 1942 - April 14, 1999) was an Italian fashion designer and entrepreneur.

Career

Trussardi was born in Bergamo, Lombardy.

A graduate in economics at the Catholic University of Milan, in 1970 he took over his family's glove-making business founded in 1910 by his grandfather Dante Trussardi, and turned it into a major company that helped contribute to the popularity of the made-in-Italy label throughout the world. He expanded Trussardi's product line beyond gloves to include luxury accessories, and in 1973 he created Trussardi's spiky greyhound logo. A few years later, Trussardi launched a line of leather jackets, the first step toward a ready-to-wear line which, by the 1980s, encompassed womenswear, menswear, sportswear and children's wear.

Trussardi's Fashion House has a remarkably wide range of design activities: it has designed interiors for the airline company Alitalia, cars for Alfa Romeo, telephones, and even helicopters. In 1988, it outfitted the Italian athletes competing in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea.

Trussardi was killed when he lost control of his Mercedes, on Tangenziale Est of Milan and hit a lamp post in the early hours of the 13th of April, 1999; he died the following day in Milan.

His son Francesco died four years later in the crash of his Ferrari. He was 29.

Initiatives

Trussardi has undertaken many other initiatives, including the creation of the Palatrussardi in Milan, which has hosted a number of pop and rock concerts, including that of Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, and Sammy Davis, Jr.. Other projects included a specially fitted-out Mini, produced by Innocenti.

The Nicola Trussardi Foundation is a no profit institution for the promotion of contemporary art and culture. Under the direction of president Beatrice Trussardi. Since 2003 the Foundation has decided to concentrate its resources on the realization of contemporary art events in the public spaces of the city of Milano.

Filmography

• Demons: The Nightmare Is Back (1986)

• Prêt-à-Porter (1994)