Borsalino

It is thought to have originated in the Far East in the form of a cone of mixed hairs and for centuries the way in which people living around the area of the Mediterranean kept their heads covered.

At the end of the XVIII century the first ancestors of the modern hat were born: the hard high cylindrical male hat (1796), the top hat (1805), the man’s collapsible silk opera hat (1812), and it is precisely from this century long tradition that the taste and style of Borsalino was born. 

In 1834 Alessandro Giuseppe Borsalino, so called “u siur Pipen”, was born in Pecetto, restless and with little interest in school. In 1846 in Alessandria he finds work, first as an errand boy and later as an apprentice at the Camagna hat company. 

In 1850 Giuseppe Borsalino decides to move to France, at the forefront of hat production, but above all for fashion, and works at the Berteil hat company in Rue du Temple, becoming a perfect hat maker. 

In 1856, having obtained “the certificate” travelling hat makers required to open a workshop, he returns to Alessandria armed with experience and fervent passion. 

In 1857 with his brother Lazzaro in a courtyard of via Schiavina Alessandria they begin a legend, the story of a family and its company, intended to impress its style and passion for hats in the generations to come.

In 1871 Borsalino boasts 130 employees and a daily production of 300 hats. And then Giuseppe Borsalino, learning from his English experience, decides to make the industrial shift and import machines which had already revolutionised the work of hat makers in Denton, Stockport and the suburbs of Manchester and transforms Borsalino from an artisan adventure to an industry. 

In 1880 the company embarks on the enterprising road of exports and a few decades later allocates 60% of production to exports. 

In 1900 Giuseppe Borsalino dies and his son Teresio takes over the company, proving himself to be immediately at the height of his task, increasing production from 2,800 hats a day in 1901 to 4,000 in 1906, to 5,500 in 1909, to reach the record figure in the 20s of 2 million a year. 

Teresio Borsalino proves to be a generous benefactor: in 1924 he donates the aqueduct to Alessandria and a short time later at his expense the new drainage system for the city. He then finances the construction of an orphanage and an Old Folks Home and finally the Sanatorium for the prevention and care of TB, not to speak of the generous donations at every opportunity. 

In 1911 Borsalino embarks on a working relationship with Marcello Dudovich, set to become a landmark in the history of advertising posters. In the following years some of the most remarkable publicity illustrations of the time are produced for Borsalino.    

In 1939 Teresio Borsalino dies and the company passes into the hands of the nephew, the son of the sister, Teresio Usuelli who at 25 receives a prestigious yet difficult inheritance, as he arrives at the head of Borsalino at its most critical period, the crisis of the 30s, as a result of the unfavourable development of fashion and the devastation of the war (on 30^th April and May 1944 the factory was damaged by two heavy bombardments). 

The recovery starts at the end of 1945: 45-50 new models a year are created against the 3-4 introduced a year between 1890 and 1914. In 1947 exports take off again thanks to agreements signed with the USA, Venezuela, Columbia, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Turkey and the production output of Borsalino reaches 800,000 hats a year in the mid 50’s. 

In 1970 the film “Borsalino” is released with Alain Delon and Jean Paul Belmondo and is a box office hit. In 1973 it is followed by the sequel “Borsalino & Co”. The two French actors are always the leading men. These two films mark the revival of the Borsalino brand among new generations. 

On 20^th December 1979 Teresio Usuelli, last heir of the Borsalino family, leaves the company, leaving his role of president to Vittorio Vaccarino. 

In the early Nineties Borsalino is purchased by the Gallo and Monticone families of industrialists of Asti, with whose entry, the company purchases a new impetus above all in the field which had historically been its strong point: exports. 

Always with a view to expansion, in 1997 the historic Sabino D’Oria and sons of Lecce is purchased, specialised in the processing of hats in fabric and leather and founded “Borsalino Sud”. 

In 1998 the growing demand of the American and Caribbean markets pushes the company to set up “Borsalino America Inc.”  

In July 2007 Borsalino Japan is born, to satisfy at best the demands of the Asian market. 

Today Borsalino, in addition to being present in the most elegant boutiques and best department stores worldwide (Berdgorf & Goodman, Barney’s, Neiman Marcus, Sacks Fith Avenue, Harrod’s, Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, Bon Marché, Isetan, etc.) it boasts 15 single brand sales points in Italy, 1 in France (Paris) and 1 in China (Shanghai).