Bernasconi

Italian silk factory. Established in 1899 by Davide Bernasconi, who was managing director and general manager until his death in 1922, when the leadership was taken by his son Leopoldo. In the early 1900s, Bernasconi was known for a very varied product line, ranging from silks for manufacturers of women’s wear and linings to ties, scarves, handkerchiefs, and umbrellas meant, to a large part, for the international market. From the three original weaving mills — in Cernobbio (Co), Morbegno (So) and Cantello (Va) — between 1906 and 1925 it expanded with the purchase of plants in Solbiate Comasco, Maccio, Giussano, and Figliaro, and with the opening of new mills in Cagno and Cernobbio (dye-works). In 1936 Emilio Sancassani, the nephew of Leopoldo Bernasconi, was appointed general director. Starting in the 1950s, after Ticosa joined the board of directors, Bernasconi underwent a period of reorganization. Beginning in 1955, local plants were shut down, and by the end of the 1960s only the production units in Cernobbio, Solbiate and the dye-works were operative. In the late 1960s and early ’70s, Ticosa acquired the Bernasconi brand and continued to marketing fabrics with the same griffe, until it shut down in 1972. Finally, in that year, Bernasconi’s weaving mills entered into partnership with the Milanese company Multifibre, bringing as a “dowry” the plant in Solbiate.