Why we chose them
The company, formally known as Fratelli Piacenza, was founded in 1733 in Biella, Italy. The story began when Pietro Francesco Piacenza started weaving wool in Pollone, a small town in the foothills of the Biella Alps. This area has been known as Italy's textile heartland for centuries. Nearly three hundred years and fourteen generations later, the Piacenza family still owns and operates the mill. It is one of the oldest continuously operating textile companies in the world, and is a proud member of the Henokiens, an association of family businesses that have operated continuously for more than 200 years. Piacenza sits in a very small club alongside mills such as Loro Piana, Cariaggi, Todd & Duncan, and Zegna Baruffa. What makes Piacenza unusual is that it is simultaneously a luxury brand, a fabric mill, and a processor of some of the world's rarest animal fibres.
Piacenza's reputation was built on sourcing and processing these rare fibres long before these yarns became fashionable luxury materials. Members of the Piacenza family have an origin story of travelling through Asia, the Middle East, and the Himalayas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries searching for new fibers and bringing them back to Biella. Their discovery and commercialization of camelhair and Himalayan cashmere became part of the company's identity. For a luxury brand, this matters because fibre selection is often more important than the knitting itself.
The mill is known for working directly with selected sources of Alashan cashmere from Inner Mongolia, fine Australian Merino, rare camelhair, and vicuña. Piacenza's strength lies within their innate understanding of these fibres before they become yarn. They are extremely selective regarding micron count, fibre length, color consistency, and yield. Piacenza’s philosophy is that a mediocre fibre can never become an exceptional yarn regardless of processing. Piacenza has a blunt refusal to let efficiency replace craft, and remains among the last mills still practicing thistle raising by hand: dried teasel flowers, mounted in wooden frames, are drawn again and again across the face of a finished cloth to lift its nap. This technique is gentler and slower than any steel-toothed machine, and one that leaves cashmere and vicuña with a softness no shortcut can match. Consequently, Piacenza is famous for finishing techniques that preserve loft while also creating remarkable hand.
This is the sort of detail luxury enthusiasts obsess over because it is difficult to replicate with modern industrial shortcuts. However, to remain cutting-edge and competitive, the company has repeatedly invested in modern machinery while maintaining traditional finishing methods. Long-term family ownership allows them to make investments that publicly traded companies often avoid.
Piacenza operates in Biella, where the water is frequently cited as a critical component in the finishing of luxury fibres because mineral content affects softness and handle. Many of the world's best luxury mills remain in Biella for this reason.
