The story of a great brand, a 17-year-old boy, Joseph Borsalino emigrated from Piedmont to France in 1850. Has already worked as apprentice hatter, but he needs a professional qualification certificate to start one of his ateliér. He wastes no time even a day. He will work hard and return to Italy seven years later. His hats will become The hat par excellence.
The unstoppable rise in the 900s
On the eve of World War I, the Alexandria factory produced and exported nearly 2.000.000 hats around the world per year. For Giuseppe Borsalino the turning point had come with an English experience. In 1897 he went to Great Britain, and bought machinery and skills by expanding his factory, which now employed 2.500 people. During his trip to the UK, the master hatter visits London's Battersby hat factory and the legend says that “without being seen he dips his handkerchief in the tub of the taring, thus brings to Italy the English secret for making perfect bowler hats ".
Borsalino and Hollywood
If there was a master & commander of the Made in Italy, this is Giuseppe Borsalino. The company Wins the Grand Prix at the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition. To be clear, the same one in which the Lumiére brothers' invention triumphed: the cinema. Incredible coincidence, given that years later, the star system of Hollywood will pay the royalties to use the Italian trademark in a film, delivering it to history. There is no actor, artist, intellectual, business man of caliber who has not worn one of his creations.
Borsalino's hats at the cinema
A hat gives that certain I don't know what. A halo of charm envelops the face. Can you imagine Humprey Bogart in Casablanca, Greta Garbo in Ninotchka, Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones, without that fateful hat? Or John Belushi, Audrey Hepurn, Charlie Chaplin. These are just some of the actors who, wearing a Borsalino, have imprinted an indelible character to the character.
The right hat for every face
The morphology of the face, it has a lot to do with the harmony of proportions. The hat, as an accessory, can do a lot to minimize defects and enhance merits. If you have always ruled out the idea of wearing such an important item, because "it doesn't suit you", you are wrong. Each face has a geometric shape and like glasses, it's just a matter of identifying the right one. If you have a round face you will look good with a beret that slides on your best side. A long face, on the other hand, is enhanced by a wide-brimmed model (if you are tall) otherwise you could opt for a short-brimmed hat, or the typical Borsalino that Johnny Depp always wears. He loves it.
A new season
Left a bit in the shade in the 90s / 2000s, the hat is back in arrogance in looks. Never abandoned by British royalty, who wear it at every good occasion (Queen Elizabeth II owns over 5000) the Italian brand get back to a new relaunch. Economic difficulties and bad management had brought the historic Alexandria company one step closer to closing. Today the multinational is from owned by the Italian-Swiss entrepreneur Philippe Camperio, president of Haeres Equita. Philippe Camperio had already bought the brand in 2017 for eighteen million euros. By saving and investing resources, it has brought a new wave of design and pushing the brand to expand, in addition to Europe in other countries such as Asia and the United States.
Borsalino, stylish as never before
Today Borsalino features 10 single-brand stores owned in Italy and one in Paris, as well as being present in the most elegant boutiques and the best department stores in the world, starting with Bergdorf & Goodman, Barney's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Harrod's, Selfridges, Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, Bon Marché, Isetan, Imaru. It continues to fascinate and dress both ordinary people (but it is never common if you wear a Borsalino) and famous people. Among the many we mention Johnny Depp, Leonardo di Caprio, Denzel Washinton, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, John Malkovich, Nicole Kidman, who choose Borsalino creations.
