Alexander Hascher, founder of SACCO, explains the inspirations and aspirations behind a new brand.

We design and produce some of the lightest, best value Italian-made blazers available. How do we do this? It all comes down to eliminating everything unnecessary, and focusing on the truly important details. The perfectly made blazer doesn’t need the inside chest canvas to support the fabric, nor does it need a lining to cover up the messy inner seams. That’s why SACCO blazers are 100% unstructured and 100% unlined, saving a third of the costs for materials, which instead we invest in the 100% Italian tailoring and fabrics of our products. In addition, the direct-to-consumer approach via e-commerce reduces the price by a third compared to selling through retail. The result is a stylish, fantastically light Neapolitan-tailored blazer — and fantastic value.

That, in short, is the SACCO proposition. But the inspiration runs much deeper. I’ve loved the blazer for decades now. In 1985, at the tender age of 14, I bought my first Vogue Hommes magazine and fell in love with the architecture of blazer jackets. I decided there and then to follow my passion. Ten years later I’d graduated with a Master’s degree from the LVMH luxury program in Paris, and spent the next two decades collaborating with some of the biggest luxury brands — ranging from Dior and YSL to Neil Barrett and Raf Simons — across Europe and Asia. During my first job, at Hugo Boss in Germany, a particularly memorable moment occurred when I was tasked with analyzing the ‘sakko’, which means blazer in German. This uniquely harsh word stayed with me, because it represents my favorite product. Today, I’ve brought together everything I’ve learned during my many years of experience to create what I believe to be the perfect ‘sakko’ — though obviously, as it’s proudly Made in Italy, the name had to be SACCO, because the letter K doesn’t exist in Italian.

The Blazer has been around for centuries in one shape or another, traditionally worn in the military, or for sports and leisure. In the 1850s, the tailors in France started to cut the tail off the frock coats and named them ‘sacque’ coats — these were called sack jackets in English, or SACCO in Italian, another reference to our brand name. As these were considered a more laid-back, sporty alternative to formal tailcoats, tailors also eliminated the front dart (the seam on most blazers going down from the front chest) to provide more comfort. At SACCO we follow this original dart-less design — we’re one of the only brands today to do so.

SACCO is a global brand with Design in London, Production in Naples, Logistics in Frankfurt, and Finance in Singapore.

Authenticity and staying true to history is key for us. So when we considered where to produce the highest quality blazers, history pointed to Naples in Italy — the birthplace of the unstructured and unlined jacket. And again, we respectfully follow tradition and the true Neapolitan style with curved boat-shaped chest pocket and patch side pockets that echo a cognac glass. Our understated signature is the 90-degree angled notch cut in the lapel. These are just a few of our signature design elements.

The SACCO team is a colorful group of people, based in London, Naples, Frankfurt, and Singapore, with complementary talents and over 100 years of combined experience. Obviously, we don’t share an office but we do share the same vision to create an authentic blazer collection, true to history, that is simultaneously relevant to the next generation. We do spend a great deal of time together as a team in Naples at the factory of our amazing production partner — a family business run by generations of artisans who tailor-make blazers for the most prestigious brands. At the end of a long day and after fighting the city’s notorious traffic, it’s our tradition to enjoy a few Aperol Spritz on the terrace of our Hotel Grand Oriente with a view over the colorful buildings of Naples, which gave us the inspiration for our first SACCO collection, “Colori Di Napoli”. We hope you like it and support us as we continue our quest to produce the world’s greatest, lightest blazer.