Born in Palermo in 1961, Maurizio Pecoraro became interested in men’s tailoring while still a child. The budding young designer decided to consolidate his natural talent; he moved to Milano and studied at Istituto Marangoni while working as a buyer for a major Swiss chain of boutiques. His creative talents attracted the attention of the Thierry Mugler house, for whom he worked in Paris. Back in Italy to finish his studies, he joined Versace, taking over the ‘Art of Alma’ collection in 1989. The extraordinary success of this collection led to a six-year collaboration with Versace and to designing and cre­ating for fashion houses of the calibre of Antonio Fusco, Les Copains and others. He debuted in 1998 with the first collection in his name, then went to India to work with the finest technical embroiderers and to form a new, contemporary ethnic style. Appreciated by celebrities, his style is distinguished by tailoring and elegance expressed freely and lawlessly. The press included his name among the most exclusive in international pret-à-porter. In August of 1991 he made the cover of French Vogue. In June of 2000 his name was included among those re­presenting ‘The New Modern’ in the American edition of Elle. HDP acquired the brand in 2001 and Valentino called Maurizio to direct the launch of the Valentino Roma line. In the mean time, Queen Rania of Jordan hosted the Queen Mother in one of Maurizio’s outfits and the two collaborated closely together on designs. This success was followed in January 2003 by the Best Italian Talent award from AltaRoma. In February 2014 he ope­ned his first store in Milano.