My dear fashionistas, welcome to a new series of fashion stories from South America on the Mr.M blog. May, as well as the following months, will be dedicated to one unusual continent – South America, I will show you the countries that I had the opportunity to visit and I am sure that you will enjoy it and want to spend your vacation in one of the destinations. At the very beginning of today’s fashion story, where I will try to convey the beauty of the eclectic Belgian elegance of the Dries Van Noten brand, I would like to thank The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), local ministries of tourism, national tourism organizations, as well as other partners who selflessly supported my adventure in South America. With their help, travelogues from several countries were created, as well as numerous fashion stories that you will have the opportunity to read during this series of posts, and I sincerely hope that you will enjoy the new adventure.

Posts from Uruguay were created with the selfless help of the The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), The Ministry of Tourism of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay and The Sofitel Montevideo Casino Carrasco Hotel and Spa.

If by any chance you missed reading the previous travelogues from Uruguay or you want to remind yourself of some interesting things, take the opportunity to visit the following links:

1. Letters from Uruguay: Montevideo, city of wine, football and urban beaches… (Travelogue)
2. Letters from Uruguay: Hotel Sofitel Montevideo Casino Carrasco, tango-inspired opulence (Travelogue)

The pictures for today’s post were taken at one of the most visited tourist attractions in Montevideo – Punta Brava Lighthouse. Punta Brava Lighthouse, also known as Punta Carretas Lighthouse, was built in 1876. The lighthouse is 21 meters high, and its light reaches a distance of 24 km, with a flash every ten seconds. The lighthouse was modernized in 1962 and became electric. The lighthouse is important for guiding boats to the port of Banco Ingles Buceo or the entrance to the Santa Lucia River.

Dries Van Noten is a famous Belgian fashion house named after its creator Mr. Dries Van Noten, who has been awarded the title of Baron since 2017. Baron Van Noten is a legendary Belgian fashion brand founded with CEO and business partner Christine Mathis. Baron Van Noten was born into a family of clothiers and merchants, his father owned a men’s clothing store, while his grandfather was a tailor. He graduated in 1980 from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

Before starting his own brand, Mr. Van Noten worked for various local designers before launching his own menswear line in 1986. That year, he presented his first menswear collection in London as part of The Antwerp Six Collection. That led to a small order from Barneys New York, and the rest is history. The Louis Boston Company was one of the first American retail chains to display his menswear line in American territory, displaying his collection and selling it in Boston. Dries Van Noten today proudly creates four collections a year (men’s and women’s collections for the summer and winter periods). What will sadden many is the news that Spring-Summer 2025 is Baron Van Noten’s last official collection as he has decided to retire.

Baron Van Noten’s career was marked by numerous successes, that even the famous New York Times declared him one of the best fashion designers of all time back in 2005. His style is said to be “eccentric” and fell out of favor during a long period of minimalist fashion in the early 1990s, only to make a comeback in the mid-2000s, culminating in Van Noten winning the 2008 Council of Fashion Designers of America International Award.

In addition to numerous successes, this amazing Belgian designer dressed actress Cate Blanchett for the Oscars in 2008 and has since continued to dress her for other red carpet events and they have become great friends. Other notable clients of the Dries Van Noten brand include Queen Matilda of Belgium and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. In 2018, an episode of the TV show Killing Eve featured one of his outfits, known as the Dries van Noten suit.

The Dries Van Noten brand does not offer a separate haute couture line, but all of its designs are ready-to-wear and available at retail. He once stated “Maybe I’m a little naive, but I don’t like the idea of ​​showing things that aren’t sold in the store.”

The Dries Van Noten brand has stores in multiple locations around the world. The first boutique was opened in Antwerp in 1989, Het Modepaleis. This was followed by the opening of stores in Hong Kong and Tokyo. At the beginning of 2007, a store was opened in Paris, decorated with antiques collected by Van Noten and his partner Patrick Wanghelue, and ten months later a store in Singapore. Currently, the brand is known to be sold in more than 400 fashion stores worldwide.

In March last year, Baron Van Noten announced that he was retiring from his eponymous fashion house after working in fashion for 38 years. His final collection will be menswear for Spring/Summer 2025.

In today’s fashion story you have the opportunity to see Dries Van Noten shirt in navy colour with special hand floral embroidery. This amazing fashion piece is made from a combination of viscose and silk. What caught my attention about this shirt is precisely this unusual handwork that makes this garment exceptional.

If you want to stay updated and find out what novelties the Belgian fashion house Dries Van Noten brand has to offer us, visit their official online store and follow them on social networks Facebook and Instagram.

OUTFIT

Shirt: Dries Van Noten

Trousers: Brunello Cucinelli

Loafers: Fratelli Rossetti

Today I will present to you one of my favourite fashion pieces from the Brunello Cucinelli SS25 collection that are made to last for seasons and years with the guarantee that you can leave something of exceptional quality to new generations to come with a timeless cut that will always be fashionable. Each manufactured piece is designed so that it does not follow blind trends, but on the contrary remains its own and consistent with the style of timeless elegance and refinement. Brunello Cucinelli is a brand that cherishes the values of “quiet luxury”, that’s why you’ll never see an aggressive brand logo on their clothes, leather goods or other fashion accessories, but the design and material will tell the story for themselves.

Brunello Cucinelli is an Italian luxury fashion brand that sells menswear, womenswear and accessories in Europe, North America and East Asia. The company was founded by Mr. Brunello Cucinelli in 1978. Mr. Cucinelli started his fashion house in 1978 specializing in Mongolian cashmere clothing for women. Today, the company owns 94 of the 124 stores worldwide. A few years ago, more precisely in January 2017, the company launched its online web store.

Mr. Cucinelli controls and manages the brand through Fedone Srl. Cucinelli’s family fund owns 57% of the company’s shares, and has also set up a special fund for the benefit of his daughters, Camilla and Carolina, to guarantee the proper handover of his eponymous company. This is an inspiring fashion story about a family.

An impressive fact is that the company headquarters is located in a 14th-century castle on top of a hill in the middle of Umbria, an area known as the “green heart” of Italy. Brunello Cucinelli donates 20% of profits to its charitable foundation and pays workers wages that are 20% higher than the fashion industry average. Also interesting information is that the employees of the company have extremely flexible working hours and that e-mails are not allowed after working hours. This is one of the few fashion houses that have such good working conditions, which is commendable in today’s age of classical capitalism.

My outfit today is adorned with a piece of clothing from the latest Brunello Cucinelli collection for Spring-Summer 2025, which are these beautiful silk trousers with a classic cut. Light summer pants are something I really like to wear and I usually wear linen pants, but this time I decided to bring some slightly dressier silk summer pants. With this model of pants, my heart was won by the interesting narrow cut and the neutral color that can be easily combined with almost all summer colors.

If you want to stay updated and find out what iconic Italian fashion house Brunello Cucinelli has prepared for us this fashion season, follow this brand on social media: Facebook and Instagram.

Today’s fashion adventure ends with old well-known friends of Mr.M blog – Fratelli Rossetti. This Italian footwear brand that I’m sure everyone recognizes for their comfortable shoes that are made from the highest quality materials Fratelli Rossetti footwear is fantastic for the reason that this brand makes classic shoes that are elegant and simply unbeatable, shoes for all time! You had the chance to see their most famous model, the Brera, in my Jordan fashion stories.

What is the story of this brand? In the middle of the 20th century, more precisely in 1945, Mr. Renzo Rossetti started his story from scratch, where he worked alone to cut leather for several types of sports shoes. His shoes were sold at the famous Brigatti store in Milan, one of the few remaining stores of its kind in the city. After a few years, Fratelli Rossetti saw success, but, wanting to develop further, they transferred the brands and equipment for this special production to Atala Sport in Padua.

So they decided to start their story again from the beginning and decided to switch to the production of classic shoes. Those were the years between 1952 and 1957, which witnessed the orientation and acquisition of new skills in the creation of women’s ballet flats and elegant, simple men’s footwear characterized by extremely flexible and high-quality workmanship. All this led to the creation of a small collection of men’s shoes with contours that differed from the various styles sold at the time. Renzo Rossetti consequently engaged in work that demonstrated his aesthetic sense and artistic perfectionism.

The story of the Fratelli Rossetti company is an inspiring story of a successful Italian family business that opened its doors in 1953. This is not just an ordinary company story, but a family story: the founder, Renzo Rossetti, and his wife, Lisetta, were dedicated to their work all their lives. The Fratelli Rossetti company is currently run by the second generation of the Rossetti family, the brothers Diego, Dario and Luca, who, due to their different roles and by developing their own different skills, have successfully brought their company to its 60th anniversary, always in search of quality and united by their passion with strict respect for tradition.

Fratelli Rossetti has a long tradition of “big little innovations”. In this company, tradition and quality have always gone hand in hand with insatiable curiosity and commitment to innovation. From the introduction of tassels and the invention of shoes designed to be worn without socks, to stylistic innovations and the launch of the “masculine” style, to the application of colors in unique chromatic shades. It was Renzo Rossetti who emphasized the importance of embracing new materials, styles and shapes: as early as the 60s, he was already experimenting with different color combinations on leather. Today, the company continues its research and development activities thanks to the knowledge of its craftsmen and the creative spirit of the styling department.

Fratelli Rossetti in its collections for men has timeless classic lines that you can find all year in their offer, some of the models are: Brera, Brera Sport, Hobo Sport, Yacht, La Giusta. 

In today’s post, I present one of the iconic Brera models. Brera is the bohemian quarter of Milan where, in the sixties of the last century, sculptors, painters and writers struggled to leave their mark with a new language and new forms. The liberal and cosmopolitan spirit was the source of inspiration for “Brera”, a moccasin with tassels, a style revolution in a country that is just rediscovering its joy of life. Brera combines different materials and colors as a true work of art. The special composition of materials and shapes makes moccasins a successful chapter in the history of Fratelli Rossetti.

Today you have the opportunity to see the famous Brera moccasins in brown color made of soft open-weave leather with evenly spaced holes in the upper part. Special high-quality processing and production. These moccasins have a hand-dyed leather sole. The shoes are handmade in Italy, like all other Fratelli Rossetti shoes.

If you want to stay freshly updated and find out which models of shoes and leather goods the Fratelli Rossetti brand has in its offer, visit their official online store and follow them on the social networks Facebook and Instagram.

My dear fashionistas, we have come to the end of another spring fashion story from South America in the heart of the capital of Uruguay – Montevideo, where together we discovered the beauty and brilliance of Italian craftsmanship with the cult brand of footwear and leather goods Fratelli Rossetti, refinement and prestige with the luxurious Italian brand Brunello Cucinelli, as well as the beauty of eclectic elegance with the famous Belgian brand Dries Van Noten, partners with whom fashion stories are a real adventure. I sincerely hope you got some inspiration for your ideal spring outfit!

See you soon and continue our fashion adventures from South America on the Mr.M blog! How did you like my outfit today? I really tried my best to prepare today’s post with lots of love and I hope you like it!

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or any message for me, you can write me below in the comments. Of course, as always, you can contact me via email or social media channels, which you can find on the CONTACT page. I’ll see you soon!

With Love from Montevideo,
Mr.M

This post is sponsored by Dries Van Noten, Brunello Cucinelli and Fratelli Rossetti brands. This post is my personal and honest review of their products.