Borbonese

In the beautiful baroque city of Turin, Italy, in the entrance hall of the magnificent Palazzo Graneri della Roccia, the Borbonese family once opened an elegant boutique-workshop at the turn of the last century, furnishing the high society with the most spectacular accessories available in Italy.

Borbonese evening bags, hats, and costume jewellery soon became de rigueur for the more fashionable elite class. Later on in the 1950s, Umberto Ginestrone joined the family business and began a collaboration with Edoardo Calgano. Together, they developed the Borbonese label and promoted the idea that “the accessories are always the protagonist”, an idea whereby the outfit follows the accessories, rather than the opposite.

Ten years later, Borbonese was asked to collaborate with the new and prestigious design houses of Rome and Paris: first Galitzine, and then Fendi, Ungaro, Yves Saint Laurent, all of whom valued Borbonese’s great ability to be able to create a direct dialogue between clothing and jewellery.

In 1971, Borbonese began its collaboration with the leading leather producer Redwall, S.p.A. to produce a line of soft leather bags imprinted with Borbonese’s new signature O.P. pattern — for occhio di pernice, or partridge-eye.

This revolutionary leather, lightweight and durable, chic and travel-ready, tapped into the growing cosmopolitanism and taste of Europe and North America. It soon became the bag belonging to the jet set. In the 1980s, under the label “Borbonese for Somma,” Borbonese began to produce bed and bath linens. With Rossi di Albizzate, one of Italy’s top furniture design and manufacturing companies, it created a line of home furnishings. A new line of scarves, shoes, ties, shawls, and watches again placed Borbonese ahead of its time by creating the “total look.”

In 1992, after twenty years of collaboration, Redwall bought the Borbonese brand. In 1999, Borbonese launched its first prêt-a-porter collection for women. The year following that, Alessandro Dell’Acqua was named Creative Director for Borbonese. His first collection was met with great success during the Milan fashion week in February, 2001.

Creative Director Alessandro Dell’Acqua, who takes inspiration from the great films of the Italian cinema, believes that every woman deserves to be desired. His style for Borbonese is sensous, feminine, modern, and chic, with a slight touch of eccentricity. “The Borbonese woman is a free-spirit,” he says. “She is the woman of today.”

In the years 2000-2002, Borbonese went back to its historical roots in jewellery, when it was acquired by a group of investors led by the French-American Arpels family, of the well-known Swiss jewellery house Van Cleef and Arpels. “Borbonese epitomizes international glamour and style,” says Claude Arpels, Borbonese’s new CEO. Arpels has plans today to grow Borbonese in Italy along with the foreign markets. A restyled Borbonese Casa collection with partners Somma and Rossi di Albizzate was presented at the Salone del Mobile in Milan in April, 2004, with designs made by cutting edge architect/designers Matteo Thun and Pio and Tito Tosi. Borbonese has also begun a partnership with Baldan 88, the Venetian shoe producer founded in 1948, to produce shoes of exceptional high quality.
 
In the years 2000-2002, Borbonese went back to its historical roots in jewellery, when it was acquired by a group of investors led by the French-American Arpels family, of the prestigious jewellery house Van Cleef and Arpels. “Borbonese epitomizes international glamour and style,” says Claude Arpels, Borbonese’s new CEO. Arpels has plans to grow Borbonese in Italy and also in foreign markets.

 

The Style of Borbonese

The Borbonese style is at once classic and modern, free-spirited, cosmopolitan, and very elegant.

From its beginnings, all the way to the arrival of Alessandro Dell'Acqua, Borbonese has had a storied love affair with the world of fashion. Creativity and experimentation, as well as an exquisite and very close attention to detail, are part of the very essence of the Borbonese brand.

Using precious materials of the highest quality, and a precise artisanal technique, Borbonese engenders products of some superlative design and luxury.

Borbonese also uses no monogram as its signature. Rather, its careful choice of materials, the historical occhio di pernice (O.P.) stamp, and metal fasteners in the shape of flathead screws, serve to symbolize the brand’s elegance, as well as its strength and simplicity.

First renowned for its collection of soft bags, Borbonese has taken the elements of its fame - quality, versatility, modernity - and applied them to their designer clothing, accessories, and housewares. The Borbonese lifestyle is always international, cosmopolitan, chic, and modern.

And the Borbonese woman is a most feminine, sophisticated, sensual, self-confident woman with a touch of eccentricity. She is definitely original. She loves glamour, so long as it isn’t in any way confining. She is very active, lively, sporty, funny. She knows what she wants. She seeks beauty and high quality. She loves to always be at the centre of attention.
 

Find fashion by Borbonese @ the following eshop: