history

LUISA SPAGNOLI

Luisa Sargentini, known worldwide as Luisa Spagnoli, was born in Perugia on 30th October 1877. Thanks to her extraordinary modern sense and great creativity, she founded two large companies, Perugina and Luisa Spagnoli which had a key role in the industrialisation process of Umbria and Italy. Luisa has advanced women's evolution in the work field by half a century, not only as entrepreneurs but also in the industrial activity.

Luisa creates "Bacio Perugina"

At 21 years old, she married Annibale Spagnoli and together with the husband, took over a grocery store at the centre of Perugia. In 1907, the Spagnoli, in partnership with Francesco Buitoni, Leone Ascoli and Francesco Andreani, opened a small confectionary factory with 15 workers in the city historic centre: Perugina. Her great creativity, inventive skills and practical sense led her in 1922 to conceive the famous "Bacio", which became famous worldwide.

Perugina’s successes

Perugina’s successes were the basis for Luisa Spagnoli’s birth, not only because the first highly successful Spagnoli’s enterprise constituted the source of capitals to create the second, but also because it represented for them, an irreplaceable entrepreneurship school.

Luisa Spagnoli’s intuition

During the late '20s, Luisa began breeding a domestic species in the Garden, never bred systematically in Italy, the Angora rabbit, in order to obtain a yarn to produce clothing. The result was surprising in terms of homogeneity and thinness thanks to the use of traditional techniques and choice of combing instead of shearing to collect the wool. The business in the textile sector which today still carries her name, began in 1928. Luisa Spagnoli’s intuition consisted in using the Angora rabbit wool to create yarns and garments when in Italy this fibre was not popular. Until then, Italian breeders had shown scarce interest in breeding the Angora rabbit. At that time, imported yarn was present in our country which was knitted to produce thick and poor quality clothes. From the first experiments, conducted with the help of female workers “borrowed” from Perugina, using the wool from the family breeding, she created fine quality products in terms of style and fabric features. Spagnoli’s garments were immediately appreciated by Italian and foreign shoppers thanks to the fabric consistency, elegant lines and harmonic colours, who considered them much superior than any other Angora clothing on the market at that time. Thus the foundations were laid for a new and purely Italian activity, aimed at exploiting the valuable characteristics of a national raw material.

Mario Spagnoli

Upon the premature death of Luisa Spagnoli in 1935, the company leadership was passed on to her son Mario. In 10 years at the head of the company, he was able to diffuse the name and prestige of Luisa Spagnoli on the national and international market, conferring typical industrial characteristics to the business, while retaining the quality requirements and style of a handicraft product, in the clothing production.

The first Luisa Spagnoli store

Mario Spagnoli’s ingenious idea consisted in equipping the Enterprise with its own sale network, exclusively dedicated to the sale of its products. The first Luisa Spagnoli store was opened in Perugia in 1940. Other shops were opened in Florence, Rome, Venice, Naples and Milan in the following years, bringing Luisa Spagnoli brand in the main squares and streets of key Italian cities. Through effective advertising, Mario diffused the breeding of the Angora rabbit such to bring the number of Italian breeders to about 20,000 during the early '50s.

Angora City project

He conceived the Angora City project, a model of production efficiency based on satisfying the workers’ needs. From simple production plant, the company, surrounded by employees' dwellings, became a self-sufficient, organised community, featuring welcoming facilities like kindergartens, after-school child care centres, churches, sports and recreational structures. Even if the project was realised only partially, it contributed to strengthen the bond between the company and employees.

Luisa's death in 1935

Luisa died in 1935. Her son Mario continued the activity, transforming the business from handicraft to industrial, mainly focusing on diffusing the breeding of the Angora rabbit among rural Umbrian families and then throughout the Country. “Luisa Spagnoli”, founded officially in 1937, soon asserted itself at national and international level thanks to the quality and elegance of its garments.

LINO SPAGNOLI

In 1953, the company leadership was passed on to Lino Spagnoli, Mario’s son, who consolidated and increased the heritage entrusted to him, by highly focusing on innovation and expanding the sale network. Thanks to his ability to anticipate times and skills in promptly grasping the need for organisational, production and commercial changes, Lino Spagnoli was responsible for the progressive exploitation of all company’s potentials, lying the bases of the current corporate structure. He is attributed the great merit to diffuse an enterprise culture focused on strategy, marketing, distribution and financial management. Thanks to his ability to anticipate times and skills in promptly grasping the need for organisational, production and commercial changes, Lino Spagnoli was responsible for the progressive exploitation of all company’s potentials, lying the bases of the current corporate structure. He is attributed the great merit to diffuse an enterprise culture focused on strategy, marketing, distribution and financial management. Lino Spagnoli, in addition to be a great corporate leader, was also fond of sports. In 1957 he began practicing power boating, winning the world title in the «Racers» category in 1959 and the European title «Racers 800 kg» in 1960. From 1966 to 1973, he was President of the Football Association of Perugia, leading Umbrian football club from C to B league.

'Luisa Spagnoli Confezioni a Maglia S.r.l.'

In 1952, 'Luisa Spagnoli Confezioni a Maglia S.r.l.' was founded, coinciding with the beginning of production diversification: new garments in different fabrics (merinfleur, waffle, wool and cotton jersey), some of which patented by the Company (e.g. angolmere) were introduced alongside traditional Angora wool clothing.

Mario Spagnoli in America, 1953

Luisa Spagnoli’s winning features in the ‘50s consisted in high mechanisation, development of the sale network, offer of garments characterised by haute-couture quality and cut and large stock assortment, presented in luxurious half-yearly catalogues. The ‘50s saw a significant expansion of the plant, an increase of employees (in addition to home work) and the opening of the directly-operated store chain in Italy and abroad.