Surviving more than 100 years in the business world is not easy. And even more so if we talk about going through the stormy waters of the Argentine economy for so long. However, a company linked to the fashion industry managed to do it based on knowing how to read the market and adapting based on changes in the wardrobe of Argentines. It is the Giesso tailor shop that went from being Domingo Faustino Sarmiento's favorite shop to spearheading the local industry with its line of perfumes and women's clothing.
Bonficacio Giesso dedicated himself to making caps and hats in his native Genoa. When he arrived in Argentina in 1884 he opened his own store in Buenos Aires. There he not only sold the articles of his expertise, but also offered fine shirts, cufflinks, buttons, umbrellas and suitcases . His store was located on Calle Cuyo, very close to the house of San Juan Sarmiento. As they say, the former president used to visit the Genoese to help him with the bow of his tie.
The business grew and its founder cut the ribbon on three other stores, which he gave to each of his children. However, only one of them managed to make the business prosper and from his store the family legacy was extended. Alfredo Giesso had his store on Corrientes and Cerrito avenues and later the company expanded with points of sale on two other iconic avenues: Alvear and Santa Fe .
fashion metamorphosis
From the Sombraros they began to focus on fine shirts. The key to survival, as they explain from the company, was knowing how to transform in time. For this reason, in the 1950s they reformulated the business by incorporating collections of everyday clothing and turning their surname into the flagship brand . Alfredo Giesso passed away in 1996 and was succeeded by his granddaughter, Ana María Giesso, who shortly after launched the brand's women's clothing line.
Currently the firm has 14 stores on the street , of which most are located in Buenos Aires territory. In addition to clothing and tailoring, which has become its emblem since the 1990s, they also added perfumery in 2004 . That year they launched their Giesso Elementos line in association with the national company L'oval, which spent close to $1 million to develop its fragrance portfolio.
Today Giesso already has the fifth generation in charge. "We were clear that a generational transfer had to be made. And we never took big risks because we had a good reading of Argentina," said Ana María Giesso in 2010. The baton passed to her son, Mariano Rodríguez Giesso, great-grandson of the company's founder. . "If the business hadn't been transformed, the company wouldn't exist anymore, because nobody buys hats or shirt collars anymore," says the executive.
At age 17, Rodríguez Giesso was visiting factories in Italy and the United Kingdom. He later studied Economics and in 1985 he joined the family company to take charge of the area of strategic and commercial planning. He is now CEO and president. Although the firm is still in the hands of the clan, in 1998 it was close to being sold after an offer from the Soldati group's investment fund, but they finally rejected it.
In addition to Sarmiento, the brand also wins the medal of having among its clients the main Argentine athletes. At the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, he was in charge of dressing the national delegation that wore his jackets, pants and scarves.
