To build from nothing. This is the factor shared by a large portion of the enlightened entrepreneurial community that has taken the excellence of Made in Italy out into the world. With the force of family ties and territorial roots. Stories of creative brilliance and passionate labor, including the history of Borzalino.
The Tuscan interior design brand, across three generations, is a farsighted combination of productivity and the local manufacturing tradition, always in step with the contemporary world, ever since the beginning in the hills near Pistoia in 1976. After a long process of rising through the ranks in the sector of leather sofas, and a fortunate encounter with a Dutch distributor that launched the company on the international market, Borzalino immediately developed a global approach.
“My grandparents began with travels by car, and they could not even afford to stay in hotels,” says Matteo Pieri, Co-Managing Director and Head of Design & Communication, now at the helm of Borzalino together with his mother. Raised on a diet of ‘bread and workmanship,’ Matteo spent his childhood and teen years in the company of the finest artisans in the Tuscany furniture district.
An environment – that of the factory – that is alive and productive, continuing to bring out the value of local crafts and materials. Thanks to the use of over 95% raw materials derived from the district, the company has received the prestigious certification of Made in Tuscany. The ‘care’ that goes into all of this is the bedrock ethical value passed down by Pieri’s grandfather. That of working with ‘native’ materials, for example.
The full-grain cowhide, treated to bring out its softness, with sartorial stitching; the marble quarried with traditional methods, but crafted with innovative techniques; the metal, cut and transformed by interlocks and inlays; the solid wood, also utilized for the support structures of sofas and chairs.
Nevertheless, in harmony with this inherited lesson, to focus on care begins with human relations and collaborations built over time. “Inside the company there are people with whom I grew up –Matteo says – people who have grown old inside this context. My goal in life is to follow in their footsteps.”
Matteo Pieri’s vision builds on the past and looks to the future, with collections created by the in-house design division, offering architects and private clients the possibility of organizing totally personalized projects, made to measure. With production that reaches residential and contract markets in over 30 countries. Above all, the care goes into coping with the new challenges of environmental and social sustainability, taking new steps forward each year towards substantial reduction of production impact.
The cowhide is tanned with natural substances, the metals are finished with ecological powders and galvanic coatings, free of solvents; the wood is never treated with formaldehyde. Extreme care can be seen in the selection of polyurethanes, recycled fabrics (derived from plastic bottles and fishing nets), and totally recyclable packing and packaging. Borzalino has recently entered a partnership with Treedom, the e-commerce platform that allows users to plant trees in different countries, monitoring their growth.
