Why it belongs in ORBIS
Monza knitwear house founded 1934 by Luigi Fedeli, originally a hat maker; shifted to knitwear postwar under Rodolfo Fedeli and pioneered Italian cashmere knitwear in the 1960s. Now run by the fourth generation, still made in the original Monza factory.
Fedeli was founded in 1934 in Monza by Luigi Fedeli, initially making felt hats at a small workshop on Via Arosio. In the postwar years, under founder's son Rodolfo Fedeli, the company shifted its focus from hats to knitwear, producing cardigans, v-neck sweaters, and roll-neck pullovers through the 1950s and 60s. That decade also brought Fedeli's defining specialization: new machinery allowed the company to work in cashmere, and it became the first Italian company to specialize in cashmere knitwear production. Fedeli remains a family business today, now in its fourth generation of family ownership, with all products still made at the original factory in Monza.