Italian fashion has lost one of its most original talent spotters. Beppe Angiolini, founder of the Sugar boutique in Arezzo and honorary president of Camera Buyer Italia, died at his home in the Tuscan city on Saturday 17 October after a long illness. He was 73 and would have turned 74 in December.
From a small shop on Corso Italia to Sugar
Angiolini opened his first boutique on Corso Italia, Arezzo’s main shopping street, in 1978. It was not the path his family had in mind, as they hoped he would join the family farm, but he had loved clothes since his school days, when he stood out for flared trousers, very long coats and bold colour combinations. That first shop grew into Sugar, a concept store mixing fashion, accessories, art and design that drew an international clientele to a provincial city. Since 2018 it has occupied the historic Palazzo Lambardi in the town centre.
What made him different was his eye. Rather than simply stocking famous names, he backed designers early, among them Romeo Gigli and Jean Paul Gaultier, and later followed closely Hedi Slimane’s work from Dior Homme to Saint Laurent and Alessandro Michele’s new direction at Gucci. For Angiolini, a buyer was not just someone deciding what to sell, but a bridge between designers and the people who wear their clothes.
A voice for buyers, and for Arezzo’s gold
As president of Camera Buyer Italia, the association of Italy’s leading multi-brand shops, he worked to give buyers proper recognition within the fashion system, and he later became its honorary president. The association remembered him as one of the most influential Italian buyers of the last forty years. He also designed and contributed to collections for brands including Ermanno Scervino, Cavalli and Iceberg, and many Italians knew him from television, where he commented on the outfits at the Sanremo Festival.
Closer to home, he served as artistic director of Oro Arezzo, the city’s gold and jewellery fair, working with the local goldsmiths who have made Arezzo a renowned centre of Italian gold jewellery. In 2019 the city honoured him with the Premio Pietro l’Aretino. His funeral will be held at the Pieve di Arezzo on Monday 19 October.
His belief that a well-chosen piece can shape how we see style still rings true. If you are looking for something that lasts, explore our jewellery, from pendant necklaces and earrings to bracelets and jewellery sets.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia (17 October 2026); Sky TG24; Corriere Fiorentino; ArezzoNotizie; Arezzo24.
