EXCLUSIVE: Ports 1961 Promotes Francesco Bertolini to Design Director Role

MILAN — Ports 1961 has named a new design director recruited from within the luxury brand’s creative studio, WWD has learned.

Francesco Bertolini, who joined the Milan-based label in 2019, will unveil his first collection for the house for spring 2025, with a presentation to be held in September during Milan Fashion Week.

The brand, rebooted as a creative collective in 2019 under the artistic direction of Karl Templer, cut ties with him after the spring 2023 fashion show in September 2022 and has since forgone presenting its collections.

“We are delighted to welcome Francesco Bertolini as our new design director. Since joining the company in [2019], Francesco has demonstrated his unique ability to reinterpret traditionally defined fabrics and silhouettes, perfectly aligning with the values of the brand. We are proud to see the growth of our in-house talent and we are confident that his vision will enhance and honor the history of our maison,” Ports 1961 said in a statement.

The Tuscany, Italy-born designer cut his teeth at leading fashion houses including Salvatore Ferragamo, Vionnet and Prada Group, before joining Ports 1961.

“I’m very proud of this appointment, it’s such a beautiful opportunity,” Bertolini told WWD. “Since I joined Ports 1961, the brand has always believed in me and my talent. I think I was given the same support parents provide their children with,” he said.

The designer said he aims to merge his own and Ports 1961’s two-pronged spirit, juggling between the “familiarity” of heritage and traditionalism and the modernity of new silhouettes that speak to today’s women.

“Ports 1961 is an international brand which has always been modern, avant-garde and contemporary, [known for] establishing a dialogue with reality, which is where I’m starting to chart my own creative vision,” he explained.

“As a luxury brand, Ports 1961 has always had its signature and distinctive codes, such as clean silhouettes, asymmetries, unexpected cuts, the use of pleats and plissé, as well as an overall sense of work in progress and unfinished,” Bertolini said, hinting at the direction the brand may take under his creative watch.

“I think she’s very fresh, a traveler, a woman who may commute to work in New York, fall in love inside a museum in Paris and have dinner in Hong Kong,” he said, describing the Ports 1961 woman he envisions. “It’s constantly evolving and fueled by curiosity,” he added.

Bertolini touted the creative studio’s multicultural composition and fresh approach, as well as the brand’s commitment to the utmost quality, ensured by the opportunity of sourcing the best fabrics in Italy. He also mentioned Ports 1961’s links with the art world as an additional avenue of exploration for him.

Although detailed plans are still being finalized, Bertolini said the spring 2025 collection will be unveiled during Milan Fashion Week in September, after a two-year hiatus from presentations.

Hinting at the spring collection Bertolini said he was inspired by the multitude of feelings that dominate today’s society, starting with palate cleansing all-white looks and progressively adding accents of primary colors. The lineup aims to mix sartorial silhouettes with more feminine designs, all conceived with wearability in mind, he said.

Ports 1961 is the luxury label within the wider Ports portfolio, which also includes Ports Pure and Ports International.

Bertolini is the latest in a string of designers who have helmed the fashion house. In the ‘80s, Dean and Dan Caten of Dsquared2 were appointed co-creative directors of the brand while Nataša Čagalj headed the creative studio in the mid- to late-2010s until Ports 1961 was rebranded as a creative collective under Templer’s watch. The latter created new buzz around Ports 1961 with help from Steven Meisel and Fabien Baron, and was promoted to oversee the image of all brands in the wider Ports portfolio in 2022, relinquishing his involvement in seasonal collections.

The brand is currently wholesaled through about 100 doors globally and operates three flagship stores, at 251 Bis Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, at 576 West Nanjing Road in Shanghai and inside Hong Kong’s Elements shopping mall.

Ports 1961 was founded by the Canadian entrepreneur Luke Tanabe and was originally inspired by travel. It later expanded into a luxury womenswear label. The parent company is Ports International Enterprises Ltd., which is based in Hong Kong, and owned by PCD Group.