130 years of Fumagalli 1891 and its historical archives
Summary
A journey to rediscover the past
130 years have passed by since 1891, when Attilio Fumagalli opened the first tie factory in Milan. In 130 years Italy has grown as a modern country, Italian habits have changed and the industry of fashion and advertising was born and developed. Fumagalli 1891 historical archives show how Fumagalli took part in changes and progress, preserving memory of its past.
On the 130th anniversary, we can start a fascinating journey to rediscover the past.
“When I took up the baton from my father, I could not imagine the importance of Fumagalli 1891 heritage”. Roberto Delli Fiori, owner and CEO of Fumagalli 1891 recounts the historical archives of his company, the oldest italian tie maker and scarf manufacturer. Roberto Delli Fiori likes to call it “THE MUSEUM” because of the complexity of works and objects that are kept inside. The archives are full of objects from the past and the present telling about 130 years of lives, style, passion, art, culture and devoted work ethic.
Fumagalli 1891 historical archives
Until the 70s the place where Fumagalli archives are now, was a dye-works and printing-works. On one side of the building, the small windows can still be seen, these used to allow only very little sunlight in for the workers to be able to print and dye.
The past of Fumagalli 1891 lives through the objects of its historical archives. Up on a shelf there are many scientific books, encyclopedias, manuals and textbooks. They are all in different languages and they probably came from far way to be part of the Fumagalli collection today. All these books hold the know-how of textile printing. Como is where Fumagalli has settled for a long time and it is well-known for silk production, from weaving to printing, from hand drawing to the first ink-jet printer.
In Fumagalli archives you can find many albums of drawings, sketches, paintings, collages. For example, you can see a cachemire pattern drawn in pencil on paper. It seems quite old and worn-out, probably because of the fact that it passed from hand to hand when it was printed. A note on paper says that it was reprinted on a special edition scarf inspired by the historical collection. Maybe a client visiting the archives can recognize that cachemire drawing, so similar to the one on the scarf she bought.
Suddenly something catches your attention and you ask yourself: “What are those tubes for?”. Delli Fiori explains: “Those tubes contain tracings. The so-called “lucidista” made them…”. Maybe we will open some tubes and see what they keep inside.
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