Il Cortile was born in 1978 in Novara, a provincial town in Piedmont, Italy. The location is an eighteenth-century palace, famous for its arches of a pretentious Rococo, destined to immediately become the company's symbol.

Modestina Antonini, born in 1948, a talented entrepreneur, is the founder of the boutique. Listening to her, she gives the impression of reliving the dawn of that glittering universe of fashion that will mark a turning point in the made in Italy, evoked by the words of a woman who understands fashion, lives it and breathes it for more than forty years.

"Il Cortile was born in 1978. I was already the owner of a clothing store, I kept brands like Elio Fiorucci, but I felt I wanted more. Those were the years when unknown names like Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Gianfranco Ferrè were starting to show at the time, and a shop that represented these emerging designers with great potential was missing in Novara".

And here in a few words, the intuition that led to the birth of an adventure that has lasted for four decades. Late seventies, the end of a positive historical period, the golden years of the economic boom, where general well-being leads to the constant demand for quality and trendy clothes. In 1978 Giorgio Armani is perfecting what will become his unmistakable style: rigorous design, clean lines, cold colors. Gianfranco Ferrè founds his own personal fashion house and Gianni Versace brings his first collection to the catwalk.
From that time the Cortile made its way, and in 1979 opened the second store in Novara, centered on men's collections, and in 1981 the third, with the second collections of the main fashion houses, which were in great demand at the time.

"What I've always wanted is research: I myself participate in fashion shows around the world to bring the best clothes to the store. What you see in New York may not be in Paris, and it is important to have the chance to analyze all the most creative proposals from designers."

Refinement, style and quality are fundamental values that animate these stores. Nothing is left to chance, every garment is chosen with particular attention, to offer the customer the maximum in luxury and elegance, with a targeted selection of products aimed at satisfying an audience that has diversified and stratified over the years more.

So the decision to open an e-commerce website, il Cortile Shop: "We want to address a wider range of customers, including international ones. Abroad, Italian quality fashion still goes a long way: people look for it for its design, but above all for its quality. We want to offer this on our site, the same care and sophistication that a customer can find when he enters our shop, in Novara".

Not a simple e-commerce site, therefore, but a carefully managed portal, where nothing is left to chance and each proposed item is presented with the same attention that it would receive in a luxury boutique. Online sales are immediate, practical, individualistic, but often they make you forget the pleasure of being followed and advised when you don't know what to choose, the thrill of touching the item or accessory you want to buy, pick up a bag, open it, rummage it, smell the real skin.

"We want to give this on our site, and we will do it thanks to a careful management of the products, of the way in which they are presented, as well as an extremely effective and reactive customer service".