An entrepreneurial story born in the second postwar period in the Comacchio valleys between Ferrara and Ravenna. This is how Della Rovere was born, now boasting a €12 million turnover with 60% of the production destined to leading international luxury production chains. For FARE INSIEME, Giampaolo Colletti tells the story of Gian Luigi Zaina, partner and Sole Administrator of Della Rovere
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
There
are stories that rhyme with comeback. Stories that build while others destroy.
Stories that get stronger over time. Stories that join threads and create
marvellous things. There it is, the story we are about to tell combines all
these things. And maybe even more. Everything started with a passion for
knitwear and the will to build up relations and wealth in a territory deeply
affected by the Second World War. We find ourselves in Longastrino, a town of a
little under two thousand inhabitants between Argenta and Alfonsine, in the
provinces of Ferrara - a UNESCO World Heritage Site - and Ravenna respectively.
We find ourselves in the Comacchio valleys. A border land reclaimed from the
water, a conquered land, as the name reveals. Longastrino comes in fact from
‘lungo le strine’, i.e. along the strine, those strips of land that emerged
from the valley or the dòs, as the locals still call them. That is to say those
places where the first settlements were located. Everything started in this
poor area forcibly reclaimed from the sea in 1963. A long battle undertaken with the sea to reclaim strips of land that could be revived. This economy is linked with the peripheral
areas, which managed to achieve success also thanks to simple crafts as well as
reclaimed land from the sea.
Company profile. Do
business and create a community, as we often say. This is precisely an example
of this, As everything started with two young newly-weds who led a small
provincial workshop on to develop, taking it to a level where it could compete
on a global scale. A workshop that expanded to assume
a leading position in the Italian fashion world. Just like any other good
story, let us start with the protagonists: Giordano Piovaccari, a tailor with
great ambition: just think that he had been wanting to set up his own business
since the age of fifteen. Paola Bersanni, a tireless door-to-door knitter.
After all, while tailoring is now linked with the Luxury sector, it used to be
a necessity in those days. That is how Della Rovere was born, currently boasting
a turnover of €12 million with an average annual increase of 15% over the past
three years, 70 direct employees and 200 workers in related industries.
Nowadays, 60% of the production is destined to leading luxury production
chains. It is a brand that looks ahead. Far ahead. Over 70% of the turnover
comes from exports. Tradition and innovation - two closely-linked words. “Technologies
change, as does the competition fields, which range from various international
markets to different sales channels, styles and colours. But the strong
technical skill and dedication to high-quality, fine yarns and artisanal
workmanship have remained the values that need to be conveyed with patience and
strong dedication,” says Gian Luigi Zaina, partner and Sole Administrator of Della
Rovere. From the beginnings to the important steps, made possible thanks to
teamwork. After a beginning made up of hand-crafted hard work, the first big
leap came in 1977. This excellent Italian knitwear factory combined its
experience with the international fame of the Les Copains group in a
relationship that would last 24 years. 1980 marked the beginning of the
collaboration with Gianni Versace, which would bring the company to the high
fashion catwalks ever since his first collection. The Longastrino factory would
be the one to produce the knitwear of his first fashion line for over 20 years.
In the meantime, the techniques improved and the yarns used were to be chosen
among the most prestigious and exclusive in the world. The quality tailoring of
the products and innovation become the cornerstones of the company culture. A
new entrepreneurial push then came in 2007 with the arrival of Zaina and the
start of the Industry 4.0 journey.
A unique proposition. This is how you
collaborate with leading global brands and retailers. “The distinctive elements of
our products include the use of prestigious materials, the most difficult to
work with, high-quality craftsmanship, the history of the best Italian knitwear
and elegant yet contemporary design. The relationships with our clients are
based on trust, customised attention and the will to listen to and meet their
needs in a prompt and effective manner. They are closer relationships than we
had in the past, as collecting orders and delivering products is no longer
enough. We need to share information and quickly adapt to change,” says Zaina.
Nowadays the company manages an industrial machine fleet that spans from Veneto
to Umbria featuring over 200 pieces of equipment. The first facility managed
remotely was also set up. “The machines we use are increasingly connected and
data is shared with the entire network. Today we can go from a design to a
woven fabric in a matter only a few minutes,” says Zaina. The great
challenge is to bring craftsmanship to an industrial system capable of
maintaining the historic values of Italian-made products, i.e. flexibility,
specialization and result-based motivation enhancing it with integration,
speed, training and responsibility when it comes to the final results. “Artisans
can no longer keep up alone without making investments and training in order to
compete on the global market. We are integrating AI in our remotely-managed
facility more and more. We are working on algorithms to monitor and improve the
production processes, introducing artisanal experience into the servers,” explains
Zaina. People and technologies, a winning combination for cutting-edge
organizations.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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