Historical Archive

MILANO 1891  ARCHIVIO STORICO FUMAGALLI  1899 - 1987

FUMAGALLI HISTORICAL ARCHIVES 1901 - 1979

MILANO 1891 : it begins

"La Raccolta Storica di Edizioni Limitate"

fabrics around the world

England

THE GRENADINE

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Fumagalli GRENADINE

"La Garza"

Grenadine is a variety of weaving that has a story full of mystery, but mostly set on the shores of Lake Como. In this beautiful area the grenadine is weaved, according to tradition, on historic wooden looms which can carry out complex designs thanks to the movement of the single wrap threads.

Grenadine fabric or “Garza a giro inglese” (English gauze) in Italian, as it is described in the international Dictionary of Textile published in 1997, is woven in a gauze weave also known as “Leno weave”. While in typical weaves the warp threads (vertical) and the weft threads (horizontal) yarns go over and under each other, grenadine has a third dimension by having another warp yarn that also cross over each other.  This gives it lightness, makes it look like gauze allowing light to pass and see through and the Leno weave allows to get a strong yet sheer fabric with almost no yarn slippage or misplacement of threads.

"It is said that during the late 1800’s, it was normal practice to go into the old Fumagalli headquarter in via Sirtori in Milan to get a tie made from Fumagalli’s gauze, choosing a design from the archive and watching your tie woven and hand stitch finished."

Nowadays grenadine has been almost forgotten as a fabric to make cloths, but it is becoming one of the most valuable and luxurious way to weave ties. Grenadine ties are not only made by the usual finished silk, but they can be weave in wool, cashmere, raw shantung silk or by combination of all these. It is also composed by a wide range of solid colours and the combination between these materials and the weave give to grenadine tie the brightness and the sheen of printed ones.

Grenadine ties appears in two mainly varieties called fine gauze, or garza fina in Italian, and large gauze, or garza grossa, that has more visible texture than the other one. Grenadine is one of the most valuable and luxurious silk to weave a tie. Grenadine ties can be worn in a wide range of occasion and are particularly appreciated from every estimator; they have long been associated with powerful and iconic men across cinema history, from Sean Connery’s James Bond to Frank Underwood in House of Cards.

INDIA

THE TUSSAH

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ITALIA 1952 : THE GOLD TWILL

THE CHALLENGE OF Fumagalli: finding the richest fabric

Continues research from the historic Fumagalli’s textile archives. This means going back to the way that brought Fumagalli to this patent a unique yarn and finishing in the 50’s years: THE GOLD TWILL. 

The constant testing brings to the creation of a really special patent: 6 strand Yarn, more intense colors, designs well-defined and a level 36 of crispness. Alberto and Mario Fumagalli patented it.

Opaque, noble, raw, dry, thick, dense and rich are some of the adjecves that characterize the Gold Twill fabric. In silk 6 strand Yarn, with a weight of more than 40 oz, is then treated with light touch of an oxidants during the finishing. Over printed on a yellow background, that makes it naturally older. The designs are deliberately opac to recreate the print by hand, so-called "planche", the tradional hand made printed "

how to wear a printed tie

The incredible richness of this fabric suggests that it can be worn on any occasion.
Ideal for clothes but also for jackets. The suitable situation is suggested more 'as the formal one in the occasions of job or of appointments

ChINA

THE SHANTUNG

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Ireland

donegal tweed

shop "donegal ties"

France

MELANGE

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The melange yarn is usually composed by 2,3 or 4 threads and every yarn is paired with other two twisted. In silk we usually couple two yarns. Different fibers proportion in the blend modify the melange yarn uniqueness. Being a different colours blend, the beauty of these yarns is that they crate different and never regular nuances in the final fabric. The best features and the uniqueness of this fabric are expressed through spotted games and effects.

image by Douglass Crockwell

Melange is a chromatic effect that is created mixing different colour fibres during the wick formation process.On the texture surface is defined a chromatic effect whereby different colour blend to each other. A texture example is: Marengo. The Marengo mélange-coloured nuance was originally produced in Spinetta Marengo, a town in the north of Italy, in the 18th century. Following the battle of Marengo in 1800 in which Napoleone Bonaparte's troops defeated the Austrian army, the grey colour of the coat worn by the general became known as Marengo.

france

JACQUARD

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Marco Polo and the very long history of :

THE SILK

The most important meeting

Kublai Khan

Looking for the best yarn in the world

THE LONG WAY BACK TO VENICE

THE FUMAGALLI MUSEUM

INSIDE The magic world of this incredible natural Fiber

historical collection of limited editions

THE "COLOR PROOFS" 

All the color proofs are collected in precious books carefully preserved in the Fumagalli archive since the 1895.

THE "PRINT TEST" HISTORICAL CARDS

1929 : Before engraving the pictures all the drawings are tested both on paper and on the test. Both collections are collected in the proofs section of the Historical Collection of Limited Editions

FUMAGALLI ARCHIVE STORYES

CRAFTSMANSHIP

CULTURE IN CRAFTS

The details create a group of beauty and uniqueness is made of hidden parts.

The research needs to go beyond what we already know and to discover new ways. 

Curiosity is the fuel of research.

NEW CHALLENGES

The style. 

The style drives us to express ourselves in simple and elegant ideas. Knowledge is the result of experiences that are handed from generation to generation. The passion makes us curious about our craft.

DETAILS, RESEARCH AND PASSION

Travels increase our knowledge by teaching the traditions of other peoples. The craftsmanship is the tendency to make best use of our manual gifts.