Trussardi was born in Bergamo, Lombardy. A graduate in economics at the Catholic University of Milan, in 1970 he took over his family's glove-making business founded in 1910 by his grandfather Dante Trussardi, and turned it into a major company that helped contribute to the popularity of the made-in-Italy label throughout the world.
He expanded Trussardi's product line beyond gloves to include luxury accessories, and in 1973 he created Trussardi's spiky greyhound logo. A few years later, Trussardi launched a line of leather jackets, the first step toward a ready-to-wear line which, by the 1980s, encompassed womenswear, menswear, sportswear and children's wear. Trussardi's Fashion House has a remarkably wide range of design activities: it has designed interiors for the airline company Alitalia, cars for Alfa Romeo, telephones, and even helicopters. In 1988, it outfitted the Italian athletes competing in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea.