Text: Jiří KrálPhoto: Ilja Hubálek
In today’s turbulent times it sounds almost unbelievable, but the company Vitale Barberis Canonico has been here for 350 years and is still a family firm. What bond can hold together and carry forward a family enterprise through fifteen generations? What force keeps the Vitale Barberis Canonico brand at the pinnacle of the world’s production of luxurious woollen fabrics for so many centuries?
An order from the Duke of Savoy
The beginnings of the long history of textile production at Vitale Barberis Canonico are documented by an order from 1663 placed by the Duke of Savoy for a grey woollen fabric. The document is also valuable because it proves that as early as the seventeenth century the Barberis family knew how to dye wool. An art which in those days not everyone mastered. And those who did mastered it, passed their knowledge down from father to son.
How does one keep a family firm functioning and prospering for more than 350 years? It seems Vitale Barberis Canonico has found the answer. They have never been afraid of innovations, as evidenced by their seventeenth-century knowledge of wool dyeing. During the Industrial Revolution they did not slumber and implemented new machinery and electricity. During the First World War they committed to production for the army. In so doing they secured the company’s growth, but also work for their employees even during the great crisis of the 1930s. While the whole world struggled with the crisis, Vitale Barberis Canonico was expanding across the globe.
An emphasis on the production of top-quality woollen fabrics
During the Second World War the company, on the contrary, focused on perfecting its internal processes, customer relations and quality control. Production began to move towards formal attire for young gentlemen.
The Vitale Barberis Canonico brand is characterised by an emphasis on detail and an insistence on high product quality. This is achieved by carefully monitoring production at every single moment. The company oversees every step, from the breeding of the sheep all the way to the perfect colours and patterns of the fabrics.
It all begins with a high-quality raw material
Vitale Barberis Canonico selects the finest wools in the world, among them the wool of Australian Merino sheep. It is distinguished by its softness and warmth. The raw material thus obtained travels to textile spinning mills in Italy, where the entire processing takes place under the supervision of the Barberis family. The outcome of processing the wool is a fine yarn that reaches a diameter of up to 17.75 microns. For a sense of scale, one micron is one thousandth of a millimetre. Fabric made from such yarn is designated Super 120’s. In other words, a very fine and comfortable woollen fabric for luxurious garments.
Inspiration from the present and the past
The long history of Vitale Barberis Canonico gives the company an enormous advantage when seeking inspiration. The designers of new collections follow contemporary trends, but they may also look into the company’s rich historical archives. From the fusion of patterns from ages past and a fresh breeze of current trends, entirely unique collections of woollen textiles are born.
Since 2013 Vitale Barberis Canonico has been a member of the prestigious association Les Hénokiens. The association accepts only family businesses with a history longer than two centuries. Les Hénokiens brings together only some four dozen such companies.
Inspiration for fashion designers and tailors alike
The fabric collections of Vitale Barberis Canonico are a selection of the very best that woollen fabric production has to offer. They therefore cannot be absent from the current Blažek collection, in the form of comfortable formal suits or, for instance, separate blazers. You can find the current collection in the e-shop or in Blažek stores.
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