Biella, Italy
Direct-to-consumer knitwear from Biella. Transparent pricing, zero inventory waste. Superb merino polo shirts and fine-gauge knits.
Best for Knitted polos, merino knitwear, sustainability; Sustainable merino polos
Craft guide
The Knitwear & Cashmere in Biella Issue
ORBISKNITWEAR & CASHMERE IN BIELLA4 shops in the atlas.Illustration
Knitwear & Cashmere in Biella
4 stores · curated ORBIS register
Visit official site ↗Biella, Italy
Lanificio Luigi Colombo, an Italian cashmere and noble-fiber mill based in Borgosesia (Valsesia, Piedmont) and founded in the 1960s, spins cashmere, vicuña, guanaco and yangir into fabric supplied to houses including Hermès, Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton.
Best for Cashmere, rare fibres, polos; Rare fibre polos
Lanificio Luigi Colombo is a vertically integrated Italian textile mill specializing in cashmere and other rare 'noble' animal fibers — kid cashmere, yangir (wild Central Asian goat), guanaco, vicuña and camelhair alongside standard cashmere. The company is based in Borgosesia, in the Valsesia district of Piedmont at the foot of the Alps, a region with its own long-standing wool and textile manufacturing tradition, geographically close to but distinct from the better-known mill town of Biella. Colombo runs production as a fully integrated process, handling raw fiber selection, spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing within its own plant rather than outsourcing stages to separate specialists — a structure that lets it control the fiber's handling from source material to finished cloth. The mill's dye operations recycle a large share of process water, part of a broader environmental program the company describes. Colombo supplies fabric to a roster of international luxury houses, with the company's materials cited in connection with Hermès, Chanel, Dior, Céline and Louis Vuitton collections, among others. Within the cashmere and noble-fiber trade, mills that work with vicuña are relatively rare, since the fiber can only be shorn from wild or semi-domesticated herds under strict international quotas — a supply constraint that keeps vicuña cloth, whichever mill produces it, among the most expensive textiles made anywhere.
Visit official site ↗Biella, Italy
Founded 1911 in Biella by brothers Ettore and Giansevero Fila as knitwear makers; the 1976 Settanta track top became a signature piece after Björn Borg wore it at Wimbledon from 1975.
Best for Settanta polo, tennis heritage; Settanta Borg polos; Heritage sportswear
FILA was founded in 1911 in Biella, in the Italian Alps, by brothers Ettore and Giansevero Fila, initially producing knitwear and underwear for the local Alpine population rather than sportswear. The company's transformation into an athletic brand came decades later, under managing director Enrico Frachey from 1968, culminating in the 1973 'White Line' tennis collection that broke with all-white club convention by introducing color and bolder silhouettes to tennis apparel.
From 1975, FILA sponsored Björn Borg, designing the tracksuits, shorts and polos he wore through his Wimbledon-winning years. The Settanta track top, designed in 1976 with its jersey construction and contrast piping, became the piece most associated with that partnership and remains one of FILA's most recognized archive designs today.
The brand's roots as an Alpine textile maker, rather than a sportswear label from the outset, are part of what distinguishes its history from competitors founded directly as athletic-wear companies.
Visit official site ↗Piacenza
Heritage HouseBiella, Italy
Piacenza traces its textile business to 1733 in Pollone, within the Biella district of northern Italy. The house now sells knitwear and ready-to-wear alongside scarves, drawing on a range of natural fibres. Its factory is in Pollone, while the published ready-to-wear showroom address is in Milan.
Best for Knitwear and natural-fibre scarves
Piacenza's knitwear has its roots in Pollone, in the Biella textile district of northern Italy. The company's range includes ready-to-wear and accessories made with natural fibres. Its account of production is useful for understanding what sits behind a finished garment, beyond the name on the label.
An order begins with a technical sheet specifying the yarn and model, with instructions prepared at the Pollone plant. Knitting machines make the main body separately from sleeves and collars. Assembly then combines hand work with specialised machines. This is a sequence of different operations, rather than a claim that the whole garment is hand-knitted.
Washing brings out the fabric's softness before machine pressing and hand finishing. The finished knit is folded and packed with its technical sheet and identifying code. Piacenza describes that code as a way to follow a garment through the process. When comparing pieces, the fibre composition and construction therefore offer a more useful starting point than a broad promise of craftsmanship. The house's own explanation makes those production stages visible without turning the shop into a factory-tour destination.
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