Pelletteria di Gianni

We manufacture all our belts and braces in a small pelletteria located on the outskirts of Milan. Giovanni (but call him Gianni or he will get upset) established his leather workshop in 1973 after building up his experience working for a series of local artisans.

People

All the leather goods are crafted from beginning to end in the workshop by Gianni and 3 other skilled artisans, with one employee, Roberto, who has been his trusted co-pilot since the inception of the business. With such a small team, Gianni is still very much involved in the production and, judging by the fact that when we visit, he is always doing something different, we can say that he puts his valuable skills at use where they are most needed.

Craft

To craft our belts, Gianni relies on superior materials, such as our suede leather sourced from a leading tannery located in the Chiampo Valley, a renowned tanning district near Vicenza. The leather hide is first inspected to ensure that it is flawless and then cut into straps which, in case of our more formal raised belts, are opened and raised by inserting a thin layer of leather before gluing them back together. A small part of the leather hide is set aside and used to die cut the belt loops and buckle snaps with the help of a hand press. This tool is also used to punch the holes and cut out the tip of the belt in the required shape. At this stage, the over edges of the leather are raw and sharp so Gianni proceeds by beveling and dyeing them to enhance comfort and give the belt a more refined look. Similarly, a thin leather lining is glued and carefully sewn to the back of the belt strap, ensuring that the stitching is straight and neat. The leather parts are then assembled together with one of our Made in Italy brass buckles and finally marked with our 40 Colori stamp.

There are different steps involved in the manufacturing of our braces. Our braces combine colourful fabrics in a variety of materials with superior vegetable tanned leather sourced from one of the few remaining traditional tanneries in Tuscany. The first step in the production of our braces consists in adding fusing to the fabric to ensure it is rigid and resistant. We use a variety of fusing materials because each fabric requires different linings to make sure that the fabric is not too thick, and the metal size adjuster can be used without impediment.

The fabric is then sewn into straps of the required size before being stitched together with leather trimmings that have been die cut with the help of a hand press. To minimize waste, we made a commitment to cut all our braces’ trimmings from leather left over from the production of our belts. At this stage, the over-edges of the leather are raw and sharp so, before combining them with the fabric straps, they are beveled and dyed to enhance comfort and give them a more refined look. Our braces are finally marked with our logo before being riveted and assembled together by hand with both leather button fastenings and metal grip fastenings to offer gentlemen the maximum flexibility when wearing them.