From Humphrey Bogart’s fedora in “Casablanca” to Harrison Ford’s lucky
headgear in the Indiana Jones series, Italy’s Borsalino has been credited
with producing some of the coolest hats in history.
Michael Jackson loved them, trend-setting music star Pharrel Williams is a
contemporary fan and David Bowie opted for one of the Italian company’s
black
fedoras for what was to prove his final photo shoot.
But even the endorsement of film and music royalty could not protect the
historic milliner from the consequences of reckless management.
At this time last year, with debts mounting and its former boss Marco
Marenco on the run from fraud and tax evasion charges, there were fears
Borsalino could go out of business altogether.
New investors ensured that did not happen and, a year on, they are
banking
on a revival in the company’s fortunes based on the values of craftsmanship
that made the brand so successful in the first place.
A visit to the 159-year-old company’s factory in Alessandria in northern
Italy is like taking a trip back in time.
Two of the original machines installed by the Borsalino family in 1857
are
still in use in the process of transforming Belgian rabbit fur into the
smooth
felt used for the fedoras immortalised by the likes of Jean-Paul Belmondo
and
Alain Delon in “Borsalino”.
The 1970 gangster film’s title was a nod to the company’s hats’
popularity
with real-life mobsters like Al Capone.
The water and steam-based process of turning the rabbit fur into felt and
then shaping the hats to their final form is long and labour-intensive.
But it is worth it, according to Edouard Burrus, vice-president of Haeres
Equita, the investment fund that brought Borsalino back from the brink.
“We really believe in the world of artisanal luxury,” he told AFP. “We
are
talking about real hand-made manufacturing and attention to detail.”
Burrus and his business partner Philippe Camperio began the process of
acquiring Borsalino in May last year with the backing of other Italian and
international investors.
A judge approved their proposals for repaying Borsalino’s creditors last
month, effectively issuing the green light for a new chapter in the history
of
a company that produced two million hats a year in the 1920s.
“We are on the final 100m,” added Burrus. “We are working flat out to
turn
around a brand that has gone through some difficult years.
“The goal is to return it to its former glory and ensure a stable future
for what is one of last independent luxury producers.”
With suppliers reassured about the company’s finances and once again
delivering the high-quality raw materials, there is a palpable sense of
relief
among the Alessandria factory’s 114 employees.
“I have been here for 30 years,” said Giovanni Zamirri, whose job
involves
the final shaping of the hats.
“It is not a mechanical job like on an assembly line,” he said. “Every
hat
needs attention, needs to be handled individually and that is a lovely thing
for me.”
In total there are 52 steps to the production of a hand-made fedora and
the
whole process takes seven weeks.
The company is still operating below its potential but things are looking
brighter with the new owners anticipating sales of 17 million euros this
year,
up from 15.5 million in 2015.
“We currently make around 150,000 hats a year but we have demand for
220,000,” said Burrus.
An expansion of the workforce is in the pipline and there are plans to
target the youth, women’s and US markets while holding on to the company’s
traditional customers in Europe, Japan and in Orthodox Jewish communities,
which account for around ten percent of group sales.
“The product is known and sells all over the world but it is perhaps seen
as a little ‘old school’,” Burrus said. “We want to give it a more youthful
edge.”
All of which sounds like good news to Daniela Cona, one of the Borsalino
employees who feared for her job.
“Happily I am still here,” she told AFP. “It is a short-term contract for
now but we hope the new investors will keep their promises and grow the
business.
“When I started here, it was like walking on to the set of a film from
the
1950s or 60s. The hats are created one step at a time. People sometimes ask
why they cost so much and say it is just a hat like any other. But that is
not
true.
“There are about 80 of us in the production process and every hat goes
through 80 pairs of hands.” (AFP)
Photos: AFP