Fratelli Borgioli is an Italian shoe brand not many know, I came across a pair from Franco’s clothier in US. The shoes are well made, sturdy with great leather. It is a very unique Italian shoe brand.
It is a great honor to talk with Urbano Borgioli, the chairman of this family business.
There are maybe thousands of shoe brands in Italy, what do you think makes Borgioli stand out?
The brand Borgioli differs from the other brands for its craftsmanship.
We must not forget that Tuscany region is the home of craftsmanship. For more than 70 years the Borgioli family has been producing quality shoes using raw materials that come directly from the Tuscan leather district.
The construction techniques we use in production, such as Goodyear welted construction, are kept and handled from generation to generation to ensure that our made in Italy still has a strong value all over the world.
Why can we not see Borgioli shoes everywhere? Which market is your focus?
Borgioli shoes are a niche product, therefore they are sold in the independent and highly qualified stores. The brand can boast excellent reputation among experts in the luxury footwear business, but is not well known to the general public.
In the previous ten years Borgioli company has faced the increasing requests from international fashion groups for product development and production of footwear, that is why a consistent part of the internal resources has been dedicated to that business area.
In 2020 we launched our e-commerce shop, aimed to support the relaunch and internationalization of Fratelli Borgioli brand, with the collaboration of our consulting partner Farrelly-Caizzone & Associates. They helped us in developing the project and in investing in advertising in UK, Holland and other European markets where our brand is known and is already distributed.
We are also interested in Asian markets, such as Japan and China.
A part of the collection is developed taken into consideration the stylistic requests and the fit that suits better the Asian customer.
Why most Italian brands choose Blake construction while Borgioli offers Goodyear construction more?
Fratelli Borgioli has always been using the Goodyear construction technique, it is a part of our heritage and our manual skills. The Goodyear technique requires much more production steps to be carried out by hand, to put the innersole components that extend the product circle and facilitate the repair of the shoes.
Our Goodyear construction differs from the English one for some production processes which allow us to obtain a soft and comfortable shoe.
We don’t want to abandon this technique, for this reason we continue to present the Goodyear welted shoes in our collections. Although the production costs of Goodyear shoes are higher and the retail price is also higher, but the final product is of the highest quality compared to the products offered by our competitors.
We can say that Borgioli is almost the only one shoe factory that still offers design products with classic Goodyear and Norwegian sole constructions.
During the long history of Borgioli, when was the best time, and when was the most challenging time?
The most challenging period is the one we are experiencing now. As we all know the Covid 19 pandemic has had a very strong impact on the fashion and luxury business, causing a profound crisis. The change in habits due to lockdowns has reduced the usage of shoes. This crisis arrived in the very moment when we had finished the construction of our new factory and we had started the process of relaunching our brand.
It is a challenge that we must accept to come out from this period even stronger.
There have been many beautiful moments in the long history of Fratelli Borgioli:
The first shoe fairs in Bologna where my cousin cooked fried chicken for all our customers. Those occasions were special to meet our clients and to share simple and precious moments.
I remember the first business trips to Hong Kong and Japan when the customers at the fair queued up to order Borgioli shoes and we couldn’t keep up with the requests.
The moment when we celebrated our 70th anniversary.
The moment of the inauguration of the new factory.
We are very lucky to have such a long and positive history of our family and our company.
Currently, what is the plan for Borgioli?
Among the projects we started a year ago the project to develop our brand is certainly the most important one.
With the launch of e-commerce shop we aim at distributing our brand internationally, to increase our presence in the markets where our brand is already known such as Holland, Germany and UK markets, to expand our brand to new markets in Asia and Africa.
The collaboration with Japanese stylists Ikeda & Matsuzaki which led to the creation of the SEISHOU project moves in this direction.
Another goal which was settled is to increase B2C direct sales, this business area is still to be developed.
In my eyes, RTW of Borgioli has not its signature feeling and models. I think that is very hard to remember this brand. What do you think?
Many people who approach our brand for the first time can have this impression. Our brand identity is built on the concept of producing high quality classic shoes. A part of our collection consists of basic styles such as college moccasins or lace-up shoes in calfskin. After all, our primary customer is the man who wants to dress in an elegant yet comfortable way, who is not interested in showing off.
Every new season we add new fashion styles to our collections, such as hand coloured patina shoes in trendy colours, shoes with contrast stitchings, hand made threadings or hand woven tassels.
We also offer a wide range of event shoes in patent leather, for instance, the psychedelic patent leather shoe which you can find on our ecommerce shop. This shoe has been selected by magazine Elle Italia for the event “Elle loves Made in Italy”.
During Milan fashion week held in February 2018, the big photos of 30 shoes selected by Elle fashion committee were hung up in the Brera fashion district.
Our psychedelic patent lace up was one of these 30 shoes.
What is the role of Borgioli family in this business now?
For 75 years the Borgioli family has been playing a fundamental role within the company.
The members of Borgioli family are still engaged in the most important job roles covering various tasks and responsibilities.
For example, up to 20 years ago I was also involved in carrying regular bookkeeping operations of the company.
Until a few years ago eight Borgioli family members worked in the company. At the moment there are three of us: I (Urbano Borgioli) am the representative of the second generation of the Borgioli family, my son Soriano and my nephew Giacomo represent the Borgiolis’ third generation.
Please say something to Chinese shoe lovers.
We know that Chinese customers appreciate the craftsmanship and manual work of the products. As well as in Italy, in China there are millenial traditions of handcrafted products.
We hope to increase the awareness of our brand in China and to present to Chinese customers the beauty, design, quality and comfort of Fratelli Borgioli shoes.
Wearing the Borgioli shoes, you take with you a piece of Italian traditions: the landscape of the hills of Vinci, home of Leonardo da Vinci, the manual work carried out with love and dedication of the Borgioli family, 75 years of artisan product history.
