Iuter Marks 20th Anniversary of Pioneering Italian Streetwear
In the early 2000s, streetwear was somewhat of a vague concept to the fashion establishment and not a trend to chase.
Stateside, Supreme was building momentum, the Japanese street scene was falling in love with A Bathing Ape, while Italy took baby steps toward nurturing a domestic street crowd of its own.
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Within that context Iuter, which is marking its 20th anniversary this year and has ambitions to expand internationally, was born out of genuine youth lifestyle.
The brand celebrated the milestone with its fall collection, called Euroiuter, which includes contributions, in the form of graphics and more, from creatives that have long been part of the Iuter crew. These include Daniel Sansavini, Filippo Antonioli, Valentina De Zanche, Tanino Liberatore, No Text and Visual Kulture, among others.
The collection also features collaborations with the Inner Light collective, photographer Alessandro “Zuek” Simonetti, the Teletubbies franchise and snowboard brand Capita. Interspersed in the lineup are pieces from Double Decade, a celebratory capsule of gear bearing vintage logos, quotes, graphics, as well as archival pieces, including a logoed biker jacket.
Cofounders Alberto Leoni and Andrea Torella were passionate snowboarders in 2002, escaping Milan on winter weekends to free ride in the mountains, where they mingled with international visitors. There they brought their penchant for hip-hop music, break-dancing and the skateboarding-slash-graffiti scene — the environment they occupied back in the city.
“It wasn’t born as a brand project, it hinged more on lifestyle…it was a sign of belonging drawn from the graffiti art’s world and the idea of crews,” Leoni recalled in a joint interview with Torella.
The first Iuter piece released in 2002 was a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Training kills riders…Go party!!!” It was a clear declaration of intent, aiming to attract like-minded youngsters with shared passions and beliefs.
“Back then snowboard was rather a community than a sport,” said Leoni. “It was a catalyzer gathering people around itself and around us from all over Italy and the world,” echoed Torella.
Merchandise-driven first, Iuter collections evolved into a full-fledged offering backed by a stronger manufacturing prowess than other early entrants into Italy’s streetwear scene.
They landed production at a manufacturing hub based in the Lombardy region, which served the likes of Fiorucci and Dolce & Gabbana, adding a layer of craftsmanship to the brand. This bore fruit in 2011 when Iuter opened its own production facility, which was expanded in 2017, that now also serves as a third-party manufacturing operation.
At the onset of the 2010s, Iuter 1.0, as the duo refers to the first decade, further evolved.
Giorgio Di Salvo, the creative behind several hip streetwear brands and projects — including the Virgil Abloh-approved Vngrd famed for its octopus print (the latter now fully owned by Iuter and reissued under the Octopus label) — contributed to the brand, opening it up to a more international viewpoint.
The cofounders also cited the advent of social media, which they embraced with a do-it-yourself and authentic approach, as well as getting to mingle with the Japanese scene in the 2010s.
“We traversed decades and even though we feel like having reached an established status as a brand, we in fact have remained fresh,” said Leoni, summing up what he believes is the brand’s strength. “Today [fashion] is often about chasing trends. Iuter has indeed evolved but we remained true to our own identity, we added layers rather than changed our nature.”
After gaining respect in- and outside the street community — and even more as streetwear has penetrated fashion’s establishment over the past five to seven years — the duo is considering a more institutional approach to storytelling (with formal collection presentations in the pipeline, for example) that would cater to international communities of like-minded consumers.
“It’s about engaging people who have not heard us scream for the past 20 years,” said Leoni with a chuckle.
Iuter has 150 stockists in Italy but only 25 to 30 abroad. It operates a flagship on Milan’s Corso di Porta Ticinese and has plans to make a push into France, Germany and the U.K.