Everybody in Menswear Wants to Live in This Brand’s World

“When I started Ghiaia, it was the first time in my career that I was really able to fully express myself,” says founder Davide Baroncini. I first came across the brand about five years ago, and that expression felt palpable.

At the time, Ghiaia offered just one product: a cashmere sweater, which remains an anchor point in the collection today. What began in a spare bedroom in 2019 has evolved and expanded exponentially over the last few years. Between major online retailers carrying the brand, outfitting Hollywood’s honks, and Baroncini’s brick-and-mortar shop in San Marino, Ghiaia Cashmere is now a full-fledged ready-to-wear operation.

One of Baroncini’s calling cards is his exceptional styling, which has captivated me—and much of the menswear world. (He had guys fiending for fisherman sandals last summer.) A Brunello Cucinelli alum and a devotee of Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren, Baroncini doesn’t take shortcuts, especially when it comes to storytelling as a visual language. He’s a merchandising maestro, and one scroll through Ghiaia Cashmere’s Instagram makes it obvious: he is the brand.

As recent seasons across menswear have leaned hard into neutral tones, Baroncini zigged the other way. “I was putting together this little world,” he says, “and I realized that everything that surrounded me growing up was color.” From old sailing teams to boats and motorcycles, he credits those influences for his fearless use of color, both in how he dresses and designs. “Even watches,” he adds, “you know, those ’90s and early 2000s looks—where a guy would wear a red sweater with yellow pants, paired with a gold Daytona.”

Beyond making clothes look good (which he can do with his eyes closed), the quality of Ghiaia’s line is the real deal. Yes, the price tag might require a deep breath, and possibly a quick credit-score check, but everything is made in Italy, often in factories where Baroncini knows the employees by name. His clothes don’t chase trends, and they don’t demand you wear the brand head to toe. Instead, he reimagines classics that he loves—cotton-twill work shirts, chinos, desert boots—with intention.

Baroncini tells me that he takes a massive amount of inspiration from movies and people who wear uniforms. Take his desert boot: classic suede, but in an unexpected black colorway. It’s unlined and completely foldable, making it ideal for travel. And then there’s the way Baroncini wears it. “I love a tuxedo with an old, beaten-up pair of desert boots,” he says. “A big sock underneath, paired with an immaculate tuxedo and an immaculate overcoat.” Chaos and control, perfectly balanced.

The working shirt was the first non-knitwear piece Baroncini designed—and it hit immediately. “It worked very well,” he says. So well, in fact, that he later developed a wool overshirt out of pure necessity while traveling. “I thought, ‘Damn, I wish I had a heavier version of this.’” The result is an elegant, 100% wool piece that’s deconstructed and built around the brands world view.

At its core, Ghiaia Cashmere was born from instinct—and that instinct feels even more pronounced today as the label continues to thrive. “I feel that my inner child is really what’s moving my creative perspective and how I express myself professionally,” Baroncini says. You see it immediately in his shop, which feels like a physical extension of him: a BMW motorcycle parked outside, an espresso bar inside, and space designed for lingering conversations. As he puts it, “If it makes me feel like a kid, that’s special.”