MILAN — Pratesi’s luxurious Italian handwoven linens have been hard to find since its worldwide brick-and-mortar network was closed, following the Pratesi family’s decision to sell to J2 Brands Group in 2018. Sferra Fine Linens, also an Italian heritage brand, which is now based in New York, took the company over in 2020, and has been planning to relaunch since 2022. Friday, the company said Pratesi is resurfacing with a Palm Beach flagship on 400 Hibiscus Avenue.
Its only stand-alone store will officially open its doors Thursday.
Following its sale and until now, Pratesi was exclusively available online at pratesi.com, Harrods department store in London, and Woods Fine Linens in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, U.K. Sferra is a portfolio company of Highlander Partners LP, middle market private investment firm based in Dallas.
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Over the course of the 20th century, the brand generated a cult following among tastemakers worldwide. Pratesi said Coco Chanel appointed the business to create a streamlined linen collection for her Paris home in 1927. Elizabeth Taylor, the brand added, once checked out of a hotel because the room was not outfitted with Pratesi linens. Designer Yves Saint Laurent, writer Ernest Hemingway and renowned socialite, public relations executive and interior decorator Lee Radziwill, Pratesi said, were also regular customers.
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Pratesi’s story started in 1896, when a young wine merchant named Remigio Pratesi commissioned a set of heirloom linens to be handwoven by Tuscan seamstresses for his future wife. The meticulous process took two years.
Now, the brand will court loyal Palm Beach clientele, a key factor in the decision to open its doors in the luxury beach destination.
“The Palm Beach clientele is very discerning, they appreciate quality and craftsmanship and will settle for nothing but the best. Our customers in Palm Beach know our iconic collections by name and many have had Pratesi in their homes for years, they think of our linens as heirlooms,” said Michelle Klein, president and chief executive officer of Sferra and Pratesi.