Italian brands hats

[deadlyhandsome]

Vanzina Farmer. 6” open crown and a 4” wide brim measured before the curl.

 

[steur]

Brasiliano in grey brown (can't tell you the colour name). Sold as a size 54, but turns out to fit me exactly, so in reality a size 56. Raw edge brim at 5cm and the crown at 10cm at the center dent. Weighs 98 grams.
So why a hidden gem? I found a Brasiliano hat before and it turned to be a Borsalino hat, branded that way likely to both corner the market and evade tariffs. This one has lost its label (the last sliver of it can be seen in the last pic), but it has all the hallmarks of a Borsalino. I'll take that for €3, thank you very much.
The brand seems to have been moved around a bit: I have found another one that was likely made by Cervo.

 

[Steve1857]

View attachment 196422 This hat is an enigma, but it is also an example of the work of an Italian hatter, Alfonso Tenisci, of the past
It is probable the client had an old homburg and wanted to make it more current, so the hatter has redesigned the brim, but it is only a hypothesis. The felt is magnificent and carries the original manufacturer's paper label. It is written by hand, so it is from before the Second World War
View attachment 196423
The source from which the original hat comes, could be Monza, the capital of hats at that time, or Cappellificio Cervo
View attachment 196424
It comes from Milan and this is in the thanks that Stefano Anzani - Cappelleria Melegari mentions in his presentation "A thought and a thank you go to all the master hatters from whom I learned this ancient profession. In particular to Franco De Toffoli, hat maker from Novate Milanese, who for a long time unfortunately is no longer with us, to the master hatter Alfonso Tenisci from whom I did real apprenticeship in his workshop workshop in Via Vitruvio in Milan, to the dear Gianni Sala, the historic hatter from Monza, for his help and equipment necessary passatami, thanks also to my friend Sergio Fiori for the hat “he has it in his blood”, to the young hatter Luca Mauri, to the great master Malegori of Monza an authentic “mad hatter” and to the masters Pino, Giorgio and Marco Vimercati , last bastions of an "endangered" world”
View attachment 196425
The hat is finished inside with a "Brasiliano" lining which is a brand of hats, often wrongly considered one of the Borsalino shadow brands, so it is not and the sweatband is signed by Alfonso Tenisci
View attachment 196426
The dimensions of the hat are as follows: the brim is 6 cm. the crown 11.5 cm at the lowest point and the ribbon is 4.5 cm.
View attachment 196427
The enigma is also the real size, considered to have been corrected in pen on the label, unfortunately for me it is a 56 cm.
I let the photographs speak for the hat.
It is "un Signor Cappello" of an Italian hatter of the heyday

Brasiliano hats are truly an enigma worth going down the rabbit hole to explore.
I believe I aquired this one via Stefan who aquired it via Daniele.

Is it a Borsalino or Cervo, pre- or post war or just a wonderful Tenisci?

 

[PanosChris]

Brasiliano hats are truly an enigma worth going down the rabbit hole to explore.
I believe I aquired this one via Stefan who aquired it via Daniele.

Is it a Borsalino or Cervo, pre- or post war or just a wonderful Tenisci?

View attachment 376937 View attachment 376938 View attachment 376939 View attachment 376940 View attachment 376941 View attachment 376942 View attachment 376943

Fantastic! The style, looks and even felt finish reminds me of my Barbisio classic, again from Daniele! As with mine, it could be one of those 50s remakes of older styles.

 

[steur]

Brasiliano hats are truly an enigma worth going down the rabbit hole to explore.
I believe I aquired this one via Stefan who aquired it via Daniele.

Is it a Borsalino or Cervo, pre- or post war or just a wonderful Tenisci?

View attachment 376937 View attachment 376938 View attachment 376939 View attachment 376940 View attachment 376941 View attachment 376942 View attachment 376943

Fairly certain it was made by Cervo, because the label is identical. Hard to tell though when it was made; the style is so different from the common fedora or homburg hats of the post-war period.

 

[Steve1857]

Fairly certain it was made by Cervo, because the label is identical. Hard to tell though when it was made; the style is so different from the common fedora or homburg hats of the post-war period.

View attachment 376963 [/QUOTE

The label is not identical. It is written. Daniele posted in his original post that this was pre war

 

[PanosChris]

The plastic liner cover keeps confusing though...whatever it is, it's a unique hat!

 

[Mean Eyed Matt]

Brasiliano hats are truly an enigma worth going down the rabbit hole to explore.
I believe I aquired this one via Stefan who aquired it via Daniele.

Is it a Borsalino or Cervo, pre- or post war or just a wonderful Tenisci?

View attachment 376937 View attachment 376938 View attachment 376939 View attachment 376940 View attachment 376941 View attachment 376942 View attachment 376943

WOW, that one's so cool, Steve!
Really a beautiful example of a style remake
- no matter under what name it was sold at some point.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Brasiliano hats are truly an enigma worth going down the rabbit hole to explore.
I believe I aquired this one via Stefan who aquired it via Daniele.

Is it a Borsalino or Cervo, pre- or post war or just a wonderful Tenisci?

The hat is in all respects a Tenisci. The felt was produced by the "Cappellificio Cervo" for the "Brasiliano" brand.
Alfonso Tenisci gave form and substance to this ensemble, probably on the orders of a client who wanted to have a "different" hat. Below you will find the quote of his apprenticeship in Milan and surroundings by Sergio Anzani hat maker and owner of the Melegari hat shop in Milan A thought and thanks go to all the master hatters from whom I learned this ancient profession. In particular to Franco De Toffoli, hatter of Novate Milanese, who has unfortunately no longer been with us for some time, to the master hatter Alfonso Tenisci from whom I did a real apprenticeship in his workshop in via Vitruvio in Milan, to dear Gianni Sala, historic hatter from Monza, for the help and necessary equipment passed on to me. Thanks also to my friend Sergio Fiori who "has the hat in his blood", to the young hatter Luca Mauri, to the great master Malegori of Monza an authentic "mad hatter" and to the masters Pino, Giorgio and Marco Vimercati, the last bastions of a "world" in danger of extinction.

 

[Steve1857]

WOW, that one's so cool, Steve!
Really a beautiful example of a style remake
- no matter under what name it was sold at some point.

Thanks Matt

 

[Steve1857]

The hat is in all respects a Tenisci. The felt was produced by the "Cappellificio Cervo" for the "Brasiliano" brand.
Alfonso Tenisci gave form and substance to this ensemble, probably on the orders of a client who wanted to have a "different" hat. Below you will find the quote of his apprenticeship in Milan and surroundings by Sergio Anzani hat maker and owner of the Melegari hat shop in Milan A thought and thanks go to all the master hatters from whom I learned this ancient profession. In particular to Franco De Toffoli, hatter of Novate Milanese, who has unfortunately no longer been with us for some time, to the master hatter Alfonso Tenisci from whom I did a real apprenticeship in his workshop in via Vitruvio in Milan, to dear Gianni Sala, historic hatter from Monza, for the help and necessary equipment passed on to me. Thanks also to my friend Sergio Fiori who "has the hat in his blood", to the young hatter Luca Mauri, to the great master Malegori of Monza an authentic "mad hatter" and to the masters Pino, Giorgio and Marco Vimercati, the last bastions of a "world" in danger of extinction.

Thanks for the clarification, Daniele. Wonderful quote.

 

[steur]

A bit of sleuthing got me here to post this. I have a few hats in my collection (well, more than a few) that are of unknown branding or shop-branding. For example I have listed below these:
Capello Vaso for J. Pul of Amsterdam

And this one: Baronet Nutria

I had always thought the Capello Vaso to have been made by Borsalino. Shape, style and felt seemed to point in that direction. Noticing they do in fact have the same label made me search further and I ended up with this maker:
Vanzina.

The layout of the label is exactly the same and the hats have a similar feel to them once set side by side. The idea that Borsalino was the maker wasn't too far fetched though, as they bought the Vanzina factory post WWII and they used Vanzina for their own production on occasion as well.

 

[steur]

A little addition: here's another Vanzina hat sold under different brand name. This time under the name of Kingson.

 

[Steve1857]

A bit of sleuthing got me here to post this. I have a few hats in my collection (well, more than a few) that are of unknown branding or shop-branding. For example I have listed below these:
Capello Vaso for J. Pul of Amsterdam
View attachment 380253 View attachment 380254 View attachment 380255

And this one: Baronet Nutria
View attachment 380256 View attachment 380257 View attachment 380258

I had always thought the Capello Vaso to have been made by Borsalino. Shape, style and felt seemed to point in that direction. Noticing they do in fact have the same label made me search further and I ended up with this maker:
Vanzina.
View attachment 380260 View attachment 380261 View attachment 380262

The layout of the label is exactly the same and the hats have a similar feel to them once set side by side. The idea that Borsalino was the maker wasn't too far fetched though, as they bought the Vanzina factory post WWII and they used Vanzina for their own production on occasion as well.

Nice sleuthing, Stefan. Borsalino by proxy I'd say.

 

[steur]

Nice sleuthing, Stefan. Borsalino by proxy I'd say.

Thanks, Steve. They did go for quality hats to sell under the Kingson brand for sure.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

When it appeared on the market, I checked my conscience, asking myself: how many black velour hats did you have in your hands without them being your size?

I was, however, attracted to a black velour hat made by a Milanese hatter I had never heard of.

Usually these are hats that were produced in Central Europe. This is a rarity because it has a very dense and well woven felt (probably sourced from Central Europe market) and a first-rate craftsmanship.

No other indication other than a mark that I saw in a couple of hats found in Mantua "Qualità Extra" printed in gold on a sweatband with bas-relief inserts.

The internal measurements of this "Gran Lusso - lavorazione speciale a mano - Facchini - Milano" are 19x16.4 which corresponds to a size of approximately 56 cm.

As you see the lining is sewed with the sweatband, this is the first time I see this finish on an Italian hat from the Twenty or Thirty

The measurements of this beauty are: raw brim at 5.5cm, the ribbon is 5cm high. and the crown at its lowest point is 10.5 cm.

For those who want to take it home, just write to me in private

 

[PanosChris]

Daniele another great find and that one is not "impossible" ...

 

[mayserwegener]

When it appeared on the market, I checked my conscience, asking myself: how many black velour hats did you have in your hands without them being your size?

I was, however, attracted to a black velour hat made by a Milanese hatter I had never heard of.

Usually these are hats that were produced in Central Europe. This is a rarity because it has a very dense and well woven felt (probably sourced from Central Europe market) and a first-rate craftsmanship.

No other indication other than a mark that I saw in a couple of hats found in Mantua "Qualità Extra" printed in gold on a sweatband with bas-relief inserts.

The internal measurements of this "Gran Lusso - lavorazione speciale a mano - Facchini - Milano" are 19x16.4 which corresponds to a size of approximately 56 cm.

As you see the lining is sewed with the sweatband, this is the first time I see this finish on an Italian hat from the Twenty or Thirty

The measurements of this beauty are: raw brim at 5.5cm, the ribbon is 5cm high. and the crown at its lowest point is 10.5 cm.

For those who want to take it home, just write to me in private

Daniele, The Velour looks fantastic! I really appreciate that you found and purchased it. Very interesting!

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Daniele, The Velour looks fantastic! I really appreciate that you found and purchased it. Very interesting!

Grazie Steve.
I believe the felt is a production made outside Italy in those years, even if I struggle to date it, as the hatter has left no trace and has components that are similar to some hats found in Mantua.
It has an above average quality and however, as you point out, it is a rarity
Great beautiful hats you have had in recent weeks, even the "Chinese expedition" back home

 

[mayserwegener]

Grazie Steve.
I believe the felt is a production made outside Italy in those years, even if I struggle to date it, as the hatter has left no trace and has components that are similar to some hats found in Mantua.
It has an above average quality and however, as you point out, it is a rarity
Great beautiful hats you have had in recent weeks, even the "Chinese expedition" back home

Daniele, Thank you! Yes very difficult to date. Another mystery!