The best fabrics for the world
Taken from: Wirtschaft Forum
Located in ‘Little Manchester’, Italy’s textile region in the triangle of Como, Biella and Varese, the company Tessitura Carlo Bassetti, founded in 1875, supplies domestic and international customers with the high-quality fabrics it weaves itself for men’s and women’s shirting textile. Firmly established on the Italian market for decades, the Gallarate-based company now also wants to boost its exports considerably.
Tessitura Carlo Bassetti S.p.a.’s current export rate is about 30%. Giovanni Fiorina, Export Manager of the company and in the fourth generation of the owning family, would like to increase it to at least 40%. This is to be done by means of an international network of agents as well as a strengthened presence at international trade fairs and personal visits to potential customers. That is why Tessitura Carlo Bassetti is also already appearing at fashion fairs in Munich and Paris.
Large warehouse capacities
Taken from: Wirtschaft Forum
Essentially, Tessitura Carlo Bassetti serves three segments: stock service, collection and printed.
Therefore, the company has many standard fabrics in stock in its warehouse, which is unusually large for the sector, for example for classic solid-coloured white and blue shirts or with popular striped or checked patterns. “That way, we can supply even very large amounts in a very short time,” Giovanni Fiorina promises. Smaller companies, however, can also order just a few meters of these products.
The second segment is proprietary collections, which Carlo Bassetti produces as autumn/ winter and spring/summer collections. “The company’s proprietary collections are designed by our own design office,” the Export Manager emphasizes. “As a result, we compete with companies that only offer stocked goods as well as with those that only produce their own collections”.
The third leg is com- missioned goods. “Because we have our own weaving looms, starting at a certain volume, we can also offer to produce tailor-made goods for our customers according to their own designs,” Giovanni Fiorina explains.
Carlo Bassetti employs 90 staff. Sales are between 20 and 25 million EUR. Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, Spain and Turkey are Carlo Bassetti’s current export markets, but it also supplies companies in France, North America and Asia. Customers of the weaving mill include Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Jacquemus, Dior, Strellson and Joop. For Giovanni Fiorina, who also writes novels in his spare time, the most important topics for the future are growth, expanding exports and ecology.