Del Toro has taken the plunge into apparel.
The shoe brand owned by former Wall Street executive Brady Perrigo since 2020 had begun teasing a few pieces for key customers last year and the strong response prompted him to introduce a full menswear collection for fall.
“We had a very small line for VIP customers, but this is the first head-to-toe collection,” he said.
The debut line includes Italian-made shirts, polos, knitwear, outerwear and tailored trousers. Key pieces include the loafer jacket, a soft-shouldered suede hybrid of a blazer and chore coat; the velour cocktail coat, in black or oxblood, and vintage-inspired cardigans.
Perrigo said now that the footwear production is “up and humming,” he was able to spend less time focused on that and more on the company’s second chapter. “It gave me the freedom to look into a different line of work,” he said.
Although he has no apparel background, he designed the collection himself, using skills he honed by working closely with his Italian factories as well as mentors from design schools. He said he started slowly, creating a few pieces of apparel for the models to wear in his footwear shoots.
Del Toro’s sweaters have a vintage asethetic.
Courtesy of Del Toro
But once he posted the images on his website and on social media, he was inundated with requests for the clothing. That led to an “epiphany,” he said, and the creation of the first collection.
“We have the same mentality as with our footwear,” he said. The pieces are not trend-driven, but classic and sophisticated. “Every garment I designed is based on vintage styles I found in Florence,” he said.
The apparel began hitting the Del Toro website a few weeks ago and the response has been strong, Perrigo said. Additional products will be introduced this fall. Prices include $268 for wool pants and $168 for a V-neck sweatshirt to $398 for the double-breasted chore blazer and $1,250 for a suede racer jacket.
In addition to the Del Toro e-commerce site, the apparel is also being sold at a pop-up in New York’s SoHo that Perrigo expects to operate for the next several weeks. And he said that while the brand doesn’t wholesale right now, he will be exploring that channel of distribution next year.
While apparel may be the focus this fall, Del Toro is still best known for its shoes. Perrigo said footwear sales have been strong and he’s “struggling to stay in stock on our hero product.” Loafers are the key product for the company and the go-to model for men transitioning out of sneakers, he said.
“We kind of got into loafers by accident and didn’t know that would be the next trend,” he said.
