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Our bespoke shirt-makers, Tom Bradbury and Xanthe Godwin, recently visited Albini’s headquarters in Bergamo, Italy.
Founded in 1876, Albini is a highly respected and family-run cloth making business. It is currently owned and managed by its fifth generation of the family, much like ourselves.
Dege & Skinner was founded in 1865.
We use Albini’s 'Bespoke Collection' of shirt fabrics in the creation of our own bespoke shirts, which are all cut in the front shop at 10 Savile Row, before being made-up in our workshop, which is located underneath the shop and can be seen from the street pavement.
During their visit to the town of Albino in the Serio Valley, Tom and Xanthe started out by visiting the factory itself.
With various sites located across Europe, this particular factory is only a small part of Albini's manufacturing operation and is home to the process of dyeing yarns, weaving of cloths, quality inspections, technical laboratories and storage warehouses.
One of the highlights of the visit was getting to see Albini’s extensive archive. The takeover of a number of classic companies, including Thomas Mason, means that the archive now dates back to the 1700s.
Examining a ledger from 1865, it struck Tom and Xanthe just how adventurous and colourful the designs were back then.
More often than not, we're used to looking at black and white photography of that period, so tend to asume the colour palette was muted.
Whereas in reality and as seen here, there were a lot of purples, lilacs and clashing, bold primary colours, worn by men and women at that time.
As well as the extraordinary and most striking shirt cloth choices, they were also struck by the technical ability of the old weaving looms, such as the one on display in the reception.
Overall, Tom and Xanthe's trip to Albini in Italy was an interesting look into the manufacture of stunning shirt fabrics, providing them with inspiration for various upcoming projects, such as our exclusive shirt cloth selection for our 160th anniversary in 2025.
To make an enquiry about our bespoke shirt service, please contact us via email to 'info@dege-skinner.co.uk' or by calling us on +44(0)207 287 2941.
