MILAN — Michele Malenotti, a former creative director of Belstaff and managing director of Matchless London, has died in a motor scooter accident at age 42.
According to press and police reports, Malenotti was returning home at 3 a.m. on Saturday after a game of padel with friends when he lost control of the vehicle in a roundabout between Venice and Treviso.
Motorcycles were his lifelong passion, inherited from his father Franco Malenotti, the chairman of Matchless London, the heritage British motorcycle and clothing brand. The Malenotti family bought the storied brand, which includes classic motorcycle jackets such as the “Osborne,” the “Notting Hill” and the “Kensington,” worn by the likes of Gerard Butler, Daniel Craig, Samuel L. Jackson, Harrison Ford, Kate Moss, Scarlett Johansson and Cara Delevingne.
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Before Matchless London, the Malenotti family owned outerwear specialist Belstaff, known for its waxed cotton biker garb, which was sold in 2011 to Labelux Group in a $161 million transaction. Previously, Belstaff was part of the Malenotti family-owned Clothing Company. In 2007, Clothing Company, which at the time also controlled the Capalbio and Black Prince brands and reported sales of around $120 million, was eyeing an initial public offering, which fizzled with the 2008 global financial crisis.
Michele Malenotti and his brother Manuele developed solid ties with Hollywood for Belstaff.
Over the years, the brand’s jackets have appeared in around 100 movies including, most famously, in “Mission Impossible,” worn by Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, “Real Steel,” “Twilight,” “X-Men: First Class,” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and “War Horse.”
Similarly, in 2017, Matchless London teamed with Arnold Schwarzenegger on a limited-edition collection of three menswear staples, all made in Italy, following a collaboration with the actor on “The Terminator.”
In 2015, confessing he was a fan of “Star Wars,” Malenotti spearheaded a Matchless London capsule collection offering items based on the popular sci-fi film series.
Miramax used a number of Belstaff styles for 2004’s “The Aviator,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio.