Incanto

Incanto is an Italian-registered lingerie and hosiery brand that traces its start to the mid-1990s in Desenzano del Garda, a town on the southern shore of Lake Garda in Lombardy. Its own Russian-language site gives 1993 as the founding year, while franchise listings say 1995. Whatever the exact date, its biggest audience is in Russia and the former Soviet states rather than in Italy.

That split, an Italian address and an Eastern customer base, is the most useful thing to know about Incanto. It explains the product, the pricing and the shop network.

A lakeside start in the 1990s

Desenzano sits between Milan and Venice, and Incanto leans on that geography in its own story. According to the brand, its first boutique opened in Venice and a second followed in Milan. Lombardy and the Veneto are dense with hosiery and knitwear makers, and the brand drew on that supply base for tights, seamless knits and lace lingerie.

In the 1990s Italian lingerie in Eastern Europe meant imported labels at import prices. Incanto's offer was Italian styling at a middle price, and the timing suited a fast-growing group of urban shoppers in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and regional cities who were buying Western brands for the first time.

Expansion from 2000

The brand dates its international push to 2000. Over the next decade it opened in European cities, across the CIS and, most heavily, in Russia, where it became a fixture of shopping centers. In 2014 it opened boutiques in Kuwait and Dubai, its first in the Middle East. A 2018 franchise listing put the network at more than 200 stores in 40 cities across Europe, Russia, Asia and the Middle East, with about 90 franchise stores sold.

Incanto factories in Italy and Serbia

Incanto says it owns production in Italy and in Serbia, and places some orders with factories in South-East Asia. Serbia has a long knitwear and underwear industry dating from the Yugoslav period, and Italian groups have used it as a near-shore base because wages are lower and delivery to Central Europe is quick.

The brand belongs to a holding it calls INCANTO FASHION GROUP, which franchise sources credit with a staff of several thousand. The group's other labels include Glamour, Innamore, Argentovivo and Malemi, mostly hosiery and underwear names sold through the same retail channels.

What the shops sell

The range is broad for a lingerie brand. Incanto's official Russian store carries:

• bras and briefs, including push-up, balconette and soft-cup styles, plus seamless pieces
• corsets, bodies, chemises and a small bridal line
• tights, stockings and socks
• swimwear and beach cover-ups
• pyjamas, robes, dresses and casual knitwear
• men's underwear and children's clothing

The silk line and a capsule called "Very Sexy" sit at the top of the range. A basic cotton collection sits at the bottom. In practice the shops work as a one-stop intimate apparel store rather than a specialist corsetry boutique.

The Italian-brand-for-Russia model

Incanto is one of several labels with Italian roots that built their real business further east. The pattern is familiar from the hosiery trade: design and part of the production in Italy, distribution through franchise partners, and marketing that leans hard on the word "Italian". Calzedonia's Intimissimi and Tezenis competed for the same mall shopper, with far larger networks and stronger recognition in Western Europe.

The difference is where Incanto chose to grow. In Italy it is a modest name. In Russian shopping centers it is one of the brands most shoppers recognize, sold alongside local chains and the bigger European groups. That positioning, Italian enough to carry a premium and priced for the middle market, is the whole proposition.

A note on sources

Most of what is published about Incanto comes from the brand itself or from franchise directories. Independent trade coverage in English is thin, and the founding year differs between the brand's own pages. Readers comparing it with better-documented Italian houses should treat its numbers as company-reported.

Last updated October 7, 2026