A Legacy in Motion
On the Parallels Between Ferrari and Brett Johnson
The small town of Maranello in Italy, the birthplace and home to Ferrari.
In 1947, a red two-seater emerged from the town of Maranello the Ferrari 125 S. It wasn’t just the beginning of a brand. It was the expression of a man’s relentless pursuit of excellence. Designed with a V12 engine by Gioachino Colombo and overseen by Enzo Ferrari himself, it was more than a car. It was a philosophy: beauty must serve performance, and performance must be beautiful.
The Ferrari 125 S wasn’t perfect. But it wanted to be and that mattered more. Enzo Ferrari’s refusal to compromise became his signature. His was a philosophy forged in the engine block and shaped in the coachwork: obsessive, refined, unapologetic.
“The client isn’t always right. I know what he needs.”
At Brett Johnson, we recognize that same instinct. The Spring/Summer 2025 collection anchored in reversible plongée leather, double-faced cashmere, and silk-linen blends wasn’t designed by committee. It’s not a reaction to trends. Like the 125 S, it’s a distillation of clarity, purpose, and touch.
THE PLONGÉE LEATHER BOMBER
The Reversible Plongée Leather Jacket, for instance, does not boast. It reveals. One side: a clean, pared-back finish with subtle grain. The other: a matte softness that catches the light at the right moment. Hidden snap buttons, hand-finished seams, and a weight calibrated for summer evenings these are decisions made not to impress from afar but to reward proximity.
The Ferrari 125 S, a symbol of raw vision and performance.
This kind of design thinking parallels Ferrari’s legacy particularly in its earliest days. The 125 S debuted with little fanfare and just two examples built, yet it laid the groundwork for a lineage of vehicles that would go on to define Italian automotive design. It was small, purposeful, nimble built to compete, but also to captivate.
Ferrari engineers with Colombo (centre) and his 1.5-litre V12, with 12 spark plugs, at the 1949 European GP.
There’s a lesson in that for American menswear: let the work do the talking. At Brett Johnson, we admire how Italy reimagines practicality as elegance. How even a gear shift or hand-stitched hemline carries emotional weight. Our American sensibility brings the confidence to interpret that heritage for a different pace more movement, more edge, but the same quiet insistence on detail.
Both the 125 S and the SS25 collection reflect a philosophy of luxury that isn’t loud. It doesn’t need to convince you. It invites you in. Because in the end, true design doesn’t chase. It builds. Slowly. Layer by layer. Experience by experience.
Enzo Ferrari in his element a man who built more than cars; he built a legacy of precision, pride, and pursuit.
