Not everyone knows that Luisa Spagnoli created the most famous chocolate in the world: Il Kiss Perugina. But what does the chocolate with high fashion? It would seem nothing. Still, the young owner of a confectionery company was the pioneer of doing business for women. He had a revolutionary idea and threw himself headlong into fashion. Like? Discovering it almost by chance.
Who was Luisa Spagnoli? Here is his incredible story
We are used to thinking of Luisa Spagnoli as one of the great names in Italian fashion. A chain of boutiques scattered throughout Italy and around the world, bears the name of a courageous and enterprising woman. In these days, the fiction, played by Luisa Ranieri, who played this figure with great passion, is back on Rai 1.
Also greatly appreciated by Nicoletta Spagnoli, the great-granddaughter, which in 2016 attended the before purchasing,, privately, in Perugia in the hall of the Palazzo dei Priori.
An unexpected gift
We are in the 20s. While Luisa is the head of her well-established confectionery company, "La Perugina", begins to have symptoms of the disease that will lead to her death. He receives a pair of Angora rabbits as a gift. They are long-haired, beautiful and docile pets. They have a peculiarity: they must be brushed every day. Luisa stroking and brushing them realizes that all that hair can be carded. He raises them in his garden and starts experimenting with a new yarn, angora, in fact, he has always had a talent for tailoring and begins to produce fashionable garments.
It is convinced that there is no real one pret a porter for the modern woman: She will invent it. Angora becomes cheap cashmereIn fact, over 8000 breeders will send the combed hair of 250.000 rabbits by post. A huge subsidiary.
A pioneering company
The experiment works and already in those days, we are in the 30s, we can say that the company was ethical. Angora rabbits, in fact, are not killed or shorn but simply combed, on an assembly line pet friendly. But Spagnoli does not stop at the right treatment of animals, it establishes breastfeeding time for her workers, the company nursery, the swimming pool, builds homes for employees. In the 40s, many suffered from hunger and cold, and knitwear and yarns worth 4000 lire were distributed to the families of the workers as a Christmas package, an enormous amount for the time. An example followed by other companies with gift packages for employees.
The apprenticeship and the autonomy of future knitters
Luisa Spagnoli was light years ahead in every field. Considering she had bought a grocery store and started making sugared almonds and chocolates without knowing anything about sweets. Luisa was brilliant and nothing seems impossible to genius.
For example, the work of knitwear was contracted out to convents, where the nuns taught young apprentices to work. Once you have learned the trade, la Luisa Spagnoli she gave them the knitting machine, so as to be self-employed. In short, it helped them to grow professionally and to become "on their own". Only Maria Montessori, in the medical field of child psychology, had come to have such an enlightened vision.
The "Red Kate" suit by Luisa Spagnoli
Luisa will not get to see the industrial transformation of her company, she will die in Paris in 1935 and her three children will carry on her projects. The brand will grow exponentially in the 50s. Even the children relaxed for the designs and the quality of the manufacture.
Today it is among the most solid and appreciated companies in the Made in Italy:. You know theiconic red suit that the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton wore on more than one occasion? It is a Luisa Spagnoli creation. The Duchess loves it and wears it to perfection, so much so that this particular suit has become a must oversold in England and also requested in other countries such as Australia, where the brand is not present, bringing it to the fore in the world.
The historic Boutique in Milan
Elegance and femininity. The Maison Umbra is now rooted in the Italian fashion scene. Its boutiques with theirs Murano crystal chandelier, patented in the 50s, they are a place where you can breathe true luxury, the discreet one.
Boutiques that obtain prestigious awards, such as the one in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, named "Historical workshop " from the Milanese municipality. The historical shops are part of a register that includes all commercial activities with a strong urban roots, such as to give them value of cultural property. This is Italian fashion.
The sweet and extraordinary life of Luisa Spagnoli
With 130 million euros in annual turnover, now the fifth generation of the Spagnoli family faces the leadership of the company. With new collections and prestigious testimonials such as Caterina Balivo, a symbol of elegance of Rai 1, the Italian brand is ready to expand abroad, beyond the European borders. If the extraordinary story of this woman has intrigued you, we recommend that you see the fiction produced by RAI. So when you come across one of its shops or taste it a limited edition Bacio Perugina, you will know that you are buying some history of Italian fashion.
