(b. 1937; Italy) At age 20 upon the untimely death of his father, Nino Cerruti assumed the helm of his family-owned textile mill. In 1957 he launched Hitman, a menswear line, marking the first time a manufactury opened an in-house fashion label and training of the likes of designer Giorgio Armani who passed through in the early 1960s. Cerruti followed in 1967 with a signature menswear line and then women's in 1977, which for a time in the mid-1990s boasted the creative talent of Narciso Rodriguez as head designer.

In 2001 Nino Cerruti sold the company his family held since 1881. Since then a parade of designers - Roberto Menichetti, Istvan Francer, and David Cardona (current) - have led the label.