Carlo Barbera
Carlo Barbera is a family-owned high-end textile manufacturer and clothing designer in Callabiana Italy, about 50 miles west of Milan. The fabric mill is owned by Kiton.[1]
There is a Luciano Barbera showroom in Milan and on Fifth Avenue in New York City.[2][3] The factory is named after Luciano Barbera's father who was 99 in 2010. In 2010 the reported average price of fabric from the Carlo Barbara factory was 41 euros a meter ($48.75 a yard), about twice that of their Italian competitors.[4]
The fabric and clothing manufactured by the firm are generally considered to be of the finest quality;[5] the yarn after dying is rested six months while it regains humidity before weaving. However, in 2010 sales were only about half of their peak in the 1990s, and the company had a large debt. Sales have been impacted by both domestic competitors which copy Barbera's methods and manufacturers who import from China and other low-wage exporters. Diminishing demand for personally tailored bespoke clothing also plays a role.[4]
References
- ↑ permanentstyle.com Italy’s mills and merchants explained, July 29, 2013
- ↑ Robb Report listing Archived August 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Luciano Barbera showrooms
- 1 2 David Segal, Is Italy Too Italian? The New York Times July 31, 2010
- ↑ Luciano Barbera interview on personal style