Baldessarini is a German fashion label founded by Werner Baldessarini in 1993. Born in Austria to parents of Italian descent, Baldessarini entered the fashion world through the retail end, eventually becoming a buyer and joining the Hugo Boss AG corporation. A former chief designer and member of the Board of Directors for Hugo Boss, Baldessarini founded his own line as a luxury label. The label showed its first collection of menswear in 1994. The first face of Baldessarini was Charles Schumann, the famed bartender who wrote a popular book on cocktails. Schumann's rugged and distinctive appearance was perfect for the company's first fragrance, Baldessarini by Baldessarini, which was launched in 2002 and won two FiFi awards in 2003—a first for a German designer.