PERFECTLY TURNED OUT in a chalk-stripe navy bespoke suit, Umberto Angeloni, chief executive of Brioni, is urbane, courteous and buttoned up. So it comes as a surprise when, after settling a visitor into a chair in his office, he suddenly begins to strip.
"There are places you could get into trouble for this," scolds Brioni's communications director, Alessandra Alla. But not Milan, so Angeloni, 53, continues peeling off his vest to demonstrate what is special about a Brioni suit. He pulls up the lapel to display a cashmere backing (as opposed to the traditional felt) and a special thread to hold...