Who Is Blazé Milano? The Founders, the Name and the Smiley Pocket

The short answer: Blazé Milano is an Italian womenswear label founded in Milan in 2013 by Corrada Rodriguez d’Acri, Delfina Pinardi and Maria Sole Torlonia, three stylists who met at Elle Italia. It is built around one garment, the women’s blazer, made in Italy from menswear cloths and finished with the brand’s signature curved Smiley pockets. The name joins “blazer” with the French “blasé”. Its best known styles are the Everyday, Everynight and Charmer blazers, and its best known fan is the Princess of Wales.

For a label that began with a single jacket, Blazé Milano now dresses an unexpected list of famous women, with very little advertising. This is the brand explained: who started it, why the blazer, what to look for on the garment itself, and how the line has grown.

Blazé Milano at a glance

The founders and the Elle Italia years

Blazé Milano’s three founders came to fashion from the styling side. Corrada Rodriguez d’Acri, Delfina Pinardi and Maria Sole Torlonia worked together as stylists at Elle Italia, which meant years of pulling jackets for shoots and seeing how few of them were cut for a woman’s body with the care that goes into a man’s. In 2013 they started their own label in Milan to fix that.

The split of roles has stayed clear. In a 2026 interview with Forbes, the founders described d’Acri as the designer, Pinardi as the voice behind marketing and storytelling, and Torlonia as the lead on the business. Few fashion houses start from a single garment, and the clothes are consistent because of it.

Why the blazer?

The founders have said they chose the blazer because it endures. It works at 25 and at 65, at a desk and at dinner, over a T-shirt and over a silk dress. A good one should outlast several wardrobes. Rather than launch a full collection and hope one piece took off, Blazé Milano built the jacket first and only then added the clothes that go with it.

The construction borrows from Italian men’s tailoring: slightly padded shoulders, peak lapels on the double-breasted cuts, an internal mother-of-pearl button that anchors the wrap, and four-button cuffs. The cloths borrow from the English menswear tradition, checks, herringbones, tweeds and pinstripes, the fabrics of a country house wardrobe. Then the cut takes them somewhere softer, with a defined waist and a line built for a woman.

What the name means

“Blazé Milano” folds two words together: “blazer”, the garment, and “blasé”, the French word for a cool, unimpressed ease. The accent matters. The label writes its name with the acute e, and so do most stockists, although search engines and many shoppers type it plainly as Blaze Milano. Say it the way you would say blasé.

How to recognise a Blazé Milano piece

The Smiley pocket. The brand’s signature is a pair of curved, buttoned external pockets, often stitched by hand, set low on the front like a half smile. They appear on the blazers, coats, cardigans and boleros, and a decorative Smiley sits on the back of many trousers and skirts. The founders describe it as a feminine note on a traditionally masculine garment.

The buttons. Gold-tone buttons embossed with the logo on the Everyday and Everynight, black loden-effect buttons on the Charmer and Nightbreak, tortoiseshell-effect buttons on some checks, and a newer logo button on the denim that shows two seahorses.

The label. Every piece is made in Italy, and the sizes run on the house ladder of 00 to IV rather than on numbered Italian sizes.

The signature blazers

The Everyday is the one most women buy first, and the Charmer is the one the Princess of Wales wears. Our blazer guide compares all six in detail.

From one jacket to a full wardrobe

The blazer is still the core, but Blazé Milano now makes most of what you would wear with it. There are coats, from the oversized Woolly Coat to the tartan Sealady peacoat. There are trousers cut in the same cloths as the jackets, so a blazer and the Fox Pants become a suit. There is knitwear, most notably the Highland family in wool and cashmere, and there is denim, led by the Cory Jacket, a denim jacket reimagined as an oversized double-breasted blazer. Smaller lines include shirts, skirts, leather pieces, a slim belt and, according to Forbes, sunglasses made with L.G.R.

In 2024, eleven years after launch, the founders opened their first boutique in Milan. They have told Forbes the plan from here is more stores, stronger wholesale partnerships and new categories, accessories among them.

Who wears Blazé Milano

The most visible wearer is the Princess of Wales, who has chosen the label’s blazers and coats for engagements since 2023, from the Royal International Air Tattoo to Christmas Day at Sandringham. We have tracked every appearance in Kate Middleton and Blazé Milano. Forbes also names Julia Roberts, Emma Stone, Kristen Stewart, Kendall Jenner, Jessica Chastain, Julianne Moore and Charlotte Casiraghi among the women who wear it.

Is Blazé Milano a luxury brand?

Yes, in the sense that matters. It is designed and made in Italy in small runs, the cloths are wool, cashmere, silk and alpaca blends, and the jackets carry hand finishing. It sits alongside labels such as The Row, Khaite and Totême on the rails of the stores that stock it. Whether a piece is worth it for you is a separate question, and we answer it honestly in is Blazé Milano worth it?.

Frequently asked questions

Who founded Blazé Milano?

Blazé Milano was founded in Milan in 2013 by Corrada Rodriguez d’Acri, Delfina Pinardi and Maria Sole Torlonia, three stylists who met while working at Elle Italia.

Is Blazé Milano Italian?

Yes. Blazé Milano is based in Milan, and its clothes are made in Italy.

What is Blazé Milano known for?

The women’s blazer, especially its double-breasted Everyday, Everynight and Charmer styles, and the Smiley pocket, a curved, buttoned external pocket that is the brand’s signature.

What does the name Blazé Milano mean?

It joins the word “blazer” with the French “blasé”, meaning cool and unimpressed. It is pronounced like blasé.

What is the Blazé Milano Smiley pocket?

A pair of curved, buttoned pockets set low on the front of a jacket in the shape of a half smile, often stitched by hand. It appears on blazers, coats, cardigans and boleros, and as a decorative pocket on the back of many trousers and skirts.

Does Blazé Milano have a store?

Yes. The brand opened its first boutique in Milan in 2024. It also sells online and through stockists, including Coveti. See where to buy Blazé Milano for the full list.

Keep reading

Blazé Milano sizing, translated to UK sizes. How to wear a Blazé Milano suit, with every matching set. Blazé Milano jeans and denim, every fit explained. Brands like Blazé Milano, for when you want the same feeling from another label. Browse the full Blazé Milano edit at Coveti.