Sunnei was officially founded in 2015 by Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo, who hail from France and Italy respectively, although the idea for it came during the latter half of 2013. Rizzo told Alla Carta that up until 2013, they’d mainly discussed launching Sunnei as a vague idea as they were still working in their jobs. “Then, when we were on a train for Berlin, Loris said he was quitting his job and we were going to do it. I had already quit mine. And that’s how it went.”

The brand’s name came from Stevie Wonder’s song “Sunny” from the 1968 Once In My Life album. The duo’s original aesthetic influences also came from this period, with Rizzo telling WWD that their first collection “revisited the Italian sartorial tradition of the Seventies in a contemporary key.” This meant a focus on utilitarian menswear wardrobe staples, such as shirts, blazers, bomber jackets and jumpsuits, with the duo keeping a constant eye on what was happening in the outside world rather than retreating into their own mythical one. “We do what we like and we do research on the street,” noted Rizzo.

This relatively unorthodox approach was borne from neither of the two studying fashion before launching the brand. Messina studied marketing while Simone studied business management before taking on digital media management. That’s not to say that the two have no fashion connections: Prior to the launch of Sunnei, Rizzo was a visual merchandiser for Gucci while Messina was a buyer for a Milan menswear boutique. “Everything we know has been self-taught and learned from our previous experiences,” They noted in an interview with Metal Magazine, going to say “Both of us have had experience with photography and that's probably why the brand's imagery is so well defined.”

It was this brand imagery that made Sunnei one to watch from inception, appearing to sprout fully formed in a way that other new brands often struggle to achieve. The approach caught the right eyes, with the first media to take notice being the streetwear press, with The New York Times catching on soon after. It was only after these outlets covered the brand that they found press interest in their home country, with esteemed journalists Sara Maino and Angelo Flaccavento taking an interest in the duo.

In addition to working on the brand identity, Sunnei focused on local manufacture, working primarily with factories in the Italian region of Veneto. The brand also joined forces with Como-based manufacturer Maiocchi, which was known for making technical fabrics for Prada, Jil Sander and even the Chinese Army.

Despite all of this, the brand’s launch wasn’t a smooth ride. Messina spoke frankly with Alla Carta about their early issues. “We were a bit disappointed on the commercial side of things,” Messina said. “We took the collection to Florence, Milan and Paris and nothing happened. People seemed to be interested, they liked the project but that was it and we were getting desperate. We closed our sales campaign with absolutely nothing and then Opening Ceremony called us to put Sunnei in their shop.”

Opening Ceremony’s stamp of approval started the snowball-effect that led to them meeting their investors, which Rizzo said allowed them to “ work more calmly and set new goals.” These new goals included a focus on its flagship store, based in Milan’s creative hub and away from most of the city's traditional fashion store locations. The space first functioned as a store/workspace, evolving over time into a full store as the team and the brand’s offerings grew.

The offerings themselves evolved in real time while never losing focus of the real wardrobe focus that encapsulated the brand’s ethos. Speaking to Want Apothecary, Sunnei said that “Our customer is much more interested in the quality of fabrics and textiles than seasonal trends. We want him—and now her—to feel at the best version of themselves, with a relaxed yet defined look. Their attitude, combined with their sophisticated wardrobe, is what makes them really unique.”

In action, this is a focus on clothes that easily slot into someone’s existing look rather than requiring them to alter their entire wardrobe, think oversized polos, an everlasting love affair with denim—a staple of the brand since its inception—and a playful touch seen in its “I hate fashion” tees. The silhouette is oversized and relaxed, as if the film Kids had a baby who emigrated to Italy and grew up watching classic Levi’s commercials. It’s a reliably malleable aesthetic that’ll allow the brand to evolve without taking huge shifts season upon season, a necessary evil to allow brands to create something new without betraying the brand DNA.

Speaking of newness, if there’s been one thing in Sunnei’s lifespan more consistent than its love for denim, it’s being called a new designer. Despite being founded in 2015—an eternity in fashion dog years—its placement in the relatively staid city of Milan means that the brand will be forever young. If anything, this speaks to the glacial pace of the Milan scene when it comes to new brands. If Sunnei were in Paris or New York, they’d be seen as part of the furniture. In London, the relentless pace of new brands means they’d likely be seen as one of the old guard.

Meanwhile, Sunnei is still being recommended to Tim Blanks as a new name to watch in 2020. As far as problems go, in the fickle world of fashion, being constantly seen as new is probably the best thing you can wish for.

But the brand isn’t resting on the fact that it can be reliably referred to as an emerging designer for the next few years at least. Like everyone, it’s been forced to react to the shift to a digital fashion week, and did so with an uncanny valley CGI show—called “Canvas” after the fabric used throughout the range.

The lookbook invited 30 retailers to create looks from the Spring/Summer 2021 collection, allowing buyers to change the fit, shape, fabric and stripe type of the clothes into their own unique garments. Speaking to Business of Fashion and Tim Blanks, the idea reminded Rizzo of his youth getting his shirts lightly customized by having them initialled and the buttons changed, noting that “It was a simple idea crossed with our virtual aesthetic.”

It should come as no surprise that Sunnei would have a novel take on the digital fashion week as the brand had cultivated a reputation for it’s eye-catching shows. It’s Spring/Summer 2020 collection, for instance, took place in the brand’s open air gallery, Bianco Sunnei, which spanned 4,000 square feet and, bucking the city's love for opulence, underneath a motorway. Compare this to Gucci’s Spring/Summer 2020 show that saw four conveyor belts transporting models across a blindingly white room and it’s easy to see why Sunnei’s approach attracts so much attention as bright new things.

For what it’s worth, Sunnei haven’t always been enamoured with the newness tag, noting in an interview that, “the real problem is that in Italy they instantly label you as an ‘emerging designer, which means nothing.” But while they aren’t a new brand, the pair are constantly bringing new ideas to the table in terms of subtle upgrades to their clothing or swimming against the tide in their adopted home city. It’s an approach that, perhaps to their chagrin, will see them feted as a new name for years to come.