BIOGRAPHY

1954
Call it coincidence or even intuition, but when Ada Masotti opened her dressmaking workshop in Bologna busts and hips were the fashion stories of the day. The name she chose - La Perla - was certainly full of promise. Starting out when stretch fabrics had yet to appear and expert tailoring was the only way to shape a garment, Ada Masotti laid the foundations for that attention to detail and love of perfection which are still central to La Perla's philosophy today.

1960
To the sounds of boogie-woogie and rock and roll, the new generations began to enjoy the first signs of post-war prosperity and demand the luxuries that went with a fledgling consumer economy. Instead of a practical necessity, lingerie began to be seen as a real accessory, subject - like anything else - to the vagaries of fashion. La Perla encouraged this revolutionary view of underwear by launching new two-pieces, not in the white or natural tones as tradition would have it, but in a range of original colours. The move was an instant hit, so much so that coloured lingerie began to appear on the shelves of clothes stores too. At this time a new view of femininity was emerging in fashion and society. The look to emulate was that of Brigitte Bardot: fresh, sexy and unconventional. This image helped turn the spotlight onto young consumers for the first time. La Perla reacted to the new status quo by creating a series of checked and flowery two-pieces with lace trimming and a range of brightly coloured matching separates such as black lace bras to be worn with girdles sporting coloured flowers on a black background and matching lace trimmings.

1970
In the Nineteen Seventies La Perla branched out in even more directions, giving its own personal interpretation to women's fashion, using modern stretch fibres and launching refreshingly original models. La Perla managed to create a new type of lingerie which was light, comfortable, free-moving and perfectly in keeping with the 1970s woman who was slim, dynamic and had a small bust and legs that went on for ever. While feminists burned their bras, consumers enthusiastically welcomed La Perla's first silk jersey triangle bra. Towards the end of the decade lingerie began to surge in popularity and claim back the powers of seduction which the feminist movement had denied it. Underwear made a stylish comeback with lace, silk and sheer fabrics firmly in the forefront. In 1978 La Perla made lingerie history by launching the first ever matching stretch lace sets, echoing the fashion of the day with its clinging dresses and natural flowing lines.

1980
The "lingerie boom" that characterised this decade was triggered by a new-found interest in fitness and the body beautiful. Women began to take a more logical approach to lingerie, choosing underwear to match the elegance of their outerwear. La Perla stepped up its advertising activities in the Eighties and created the chic, romantic, feminine image which marked an important stage in the history of the Group's photographic imagery. The emphasis was now laid on an atmosphere of anticipation; women were portrayed in languorous poses of abandonment, bathed in soft lighting, in interiors filled with furnishings and fabrics suggesting luxury and sensuality. In 1983 La Perla launched the first ever stretch lace wide-shouldered body, a forerunner of the "under-jacket" bodies which championed a new type of lingerie that was specifically designed to be shown off.

1990
The early Nineties saw a significant shift in the style of the La Perla image. This change came as a response to emerging trends: lingerie began to speak the same language as outerwear, the focus was placed firmly on fashion values, and a more stagy, dynamic female type emerged. The result was a glamorous woman who carried her seductive powers with ease and self-assurance. Models looked straight at the camera, wore accessories associated more with outerwear, struck confident poses and were shown in new, less intimate surroundings, becoming subjects - not objects - of desire.

1994
In the space of just a few years the hedonism of the Reagan era had faded to a distant memory. The overriding emphasis on appearance of the 1980's was replaced by the "be yourself" imperative of the 1990's. There was a return to simplicity in fashion and lingerie alike: the emphasis was now laid on solid values and more restrained forms of style and elegance. The quintessential embodiment of this new self-awareness was Sculpture-, the bra launched by La Perla in 1994 which revolutionised underwear. A natural style, purity of form and harmonious proportions were the key attributes which made Sculpture a fashion phenomenon. The symbol of a whole new style philosophy, Sculpture turned the very notion of underwear on its head, ushering in the idea of underwear as clothing to be worn up front and shown off. A cult in its own right, Sculpture is a creation that brilliantly epitomises the world of La Perla and is a must for all women keen to combine a personal style with all-important contemporary values.

1997
The decision to take a step forward and highlight the relationship between women and the language of lingerie is a very recent one. La Perla's new communication strategy seeks to reflect the dreams and emotions of women who are free to choose, who no longer want to enter the man's fantasy world but to create and share it, living their lives and relationships exactly as they decide. With the help of Marino Parisotto Vay, in 1997 La Perla launched not so much a new image as a new world of the imagination. For the first time men played a part in scenes in which women were both the stars and the directors, and where for the first time they showed off their skill at the art of transgression. This high impact, contemporary image led to a ground-breaking communication project which debuted with Senso, a book of photographs projecting an elegant form of female eroticism in a heady mix of dream and transgression. This journey through the realms of seduction has continued with the images for Spring/Summer 1998 and the beachwear collection as depicted in La Perla's new book, Tropico.