Since the Sixties, Franco Montanelli is helding a dialogue in the round with the most prestigious italian companies in the production of tissue and silk, through an enlightened and wise look that restores craftsmanship and tradition values and plays them in the present through the telling of a great Italian history.

From raw material to production, from weaving to packaging, Franco Montanelli follows with passion the extraordinary paths in the atlas of the Made in Italy, recreating a territorial, historical and cultural silhouette typical of our beautiful country. From east to west, from North to South, the “wool roads” are represented by the woolen mills of Biella, in Piedmont, including the excellent Ermenegildo Zegna, Zegna Baruffa, Loro Piana, Vitale Barberis Canonico, while the silk streets in Lombardy have made Como the leading city in the production and processing of silk. This extraordinary itinerary follows the Alpine arc between natural creeks and rolling plains, and touches Veneto and its important cotton mills, with Albini and Tessitura Monti, to mention a few.

A path rich in history, culture and traditional craftsmanship that goes on in the best tailors’ shops located in central Italy, between Tuscany, Umbria and Marche, and south to Campania and Puglia.

There were tailors in Milan who were collectors: now that profession disappearing, being replaced by sewing machines. The inevitable evolution of productivity and research was a loss. Many of the best tailors had an artistic sensibility and they were often collectors, such as Italo Magliano. It was a pleasure to go to a tailor; one could talk about art while the dress was being sewn.

Giuseppe Panza, from “Memories of a collector”