Damiani fêtes 100th anniversary with Borsalino

In 2024, Italian jewellery brand Damiani is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a wealth of events and initiatives both in Italy and abroad. During Milan Fashion Week, Damiani, based in Valenza, Piedmont, has presented a special collaboration with another Piedmontese name, hat-maker Borsalino, founded in 1857 in Alessandria and a world leader in its sector. The two Italian brands, both distinctive for their rich heritage, uncompromising passion for craftsmanship and solid Piedmont roots, have joined forces to create three unique Borsalino hats, personalised with precious jewels from Damiani’s Mimosa, Belle Epoque and Margherita collections.

Mauro Baglietto, managing director of Borsalino since 2020, has shown FashionNetwork.com the line’s three iconic hats, created as one-offs but already coveted by many.

“We never thought there’d actually be a demand [for them], these jewel-hats were conceived as a special way of being present at Milan Fashion Week, telling the fashion world the story of two top-notch Italian producers active in the luxury sector worldwide. We may have to think seriously about creating items for an elite public keen to own such special, exclusive items,” said Baglietto.

The two brands’ design teams have worked together to engineer a perfect mix of colour and style with their jewellery lines and hat models. Borsalino’s retro-style Nina cloche, in black, is matched with items from Damiani’s Belle Époque collection, inspired by the charming joie de vivre typical of the period. Nina’s hatband is enhanced with a white gold and diamonds detail, and two long lateral pendants hang from the hat’s sides like glimmering jewel earrings.

The Sophie fedora, a Borsalino evergreen, is matched with the Mimosa collection, which symbolises Damiani’s extraordinary passion for artisanal craftsmanship. Thanks to thin, artfully distributed settings, the diamonds seem to be scattered in a sort of apparent chaos, harmoniously combining stones of different carats and cuts. The fedora’s warm wood colour blends perfectly with the rose gold chosen for the chain at the base of the crown, and with the sophisticated diamond and Australian pearl necklace that acts like a luxurious hat chord.

The Borsalino Baseball model is featured in amethyst purple, and is enhanced by items from Damiani’s renowned Margherita collection. The crown is decorated with 10 flowers in rose gold, brown diamonds and amethysts of various sizes, some of them bunched together in a wonderful bouquet-style brooch. It will be just a matter of waiting to see whether some society lady will have the privilege of wearing one of these precious creations.