Page 24 - #203 November 2025

INTERVIEW

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Timeless

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With more than 165 years of history,
Borsalino stands as a symbol of Italian
craftsmanship and timeless style. In conversation with RLI,
the Managing Director Mauro Baglietto highlights how the
iconic hat maker continues to blend heritage, artistry and
innovation to stay relevant in today’s global luxury market. 2

Borsalino is an iconic, centuries-old Italian luxury hat cities such as Barcelona or Madrid in Spain are the target, as is
manufacturer founded in 1857 by Giuseppe Borsalino in Alessandria, every other major city across Europe. They will then look to grow
Italy, known for its exceptional craftsmanship, high-quality felt and their portfolio by having stores in tier one cities such as Beijing and
straw hats and timeless elegance. The brand, which has endured Shanghai in China.
changes in ownership, continues its tradition of artisanal excellence “We consider our sites a central point where customers can
by using traditional manufacturing processes, high-quality materials capitalise on our whole collection,” highlights Baglietto. “They are
and incorporating contemporary trends and collaborations with service points for guests and a place where they can physically come
fashion designers. and try on our products and work with our trained staff to find the
“We consider ourselves the ambassador of the Italian savoir-faire. perfect hat and the perfect fit.”
Today we still operate with care and craft. To produce one hat, it takes To continually evolve and grow the brand, they are currently
more than 50 operations, each performed by hand, over the course focusing their energies on two areas. The first is co-branding
of seven weeks. It is this level of quality that we put into all of our activities, where they have already collaborated with such renowned
products that allows a Borsalino hat to stand out,” explains Mauro names as Yves Saint Laurent and Valentino. This is an important
Baglietto, Managing Director. distribution channel for the company as it offers the opportunity for
The company operates 15 monobrand units across Italy, France customers who may not normally shop in Borsalino stores to discover
and the UK. Their stores are split across two categories, the retail the quality of the brand. The second area is product expansion. While
store and the travel retail store. While they began with their own their main product is of course the hat, they are now branching out
retail stores, the travel retail store count has risen quickly in recent into the field of accessories as they look to offer a complete look for
times and offers the business contact with a different kind of their customers.
customer, a young and more international consumer. While the business is steeped in heritage and history, this does
Global expansion is on the horizon for Borsalino, beginning by not mean they neglect the importance of current elements within
adding to their European presence with an additional location in the retail world, namely social media and the growing influence of
London, UK and another in Paris, France. From here, other major artificial intelligence. Baglietto comments that new technologies

24 Retail & Leisure International November 2025