F L O R E N C E I N T E R N A T I O N A L
Biography
I started my activity in 1979 as a shop boy at Chiaromonti e Bizzarri fur shop in Prato. This happened because in February 1979, I decided to quit studying at Technical Institute School and my father, as a punishment, sent me to do this job to make me realize that working was harder than studying… nothing was more wrong!
This experience had the opposite result, indeed I felt that job immediately mine, it took my soul. On my mind that job was like an art and I used to work over 10 hours a day to learn everything about it without any sacrifice: my dream was to build something really special. After ten years of this job, I had acquired a manual dexterity and a very important experience so in 1989 I received a job offer as tagliatore, from Gallotti SPA in Empoli. I have worked for three years and I had the possibility to collaborate in close contact with the modellers and with the design part of the garment. This type of work allowed me to acquire the technical knowledge of the furthest industrialized fur processing, knowledge that built an important base for my future experiences.
In 1992 I met Master Amleto Galli, a master Vaiaio of the Florentine school. He was looking for a boy, with the desire to learn the job and to whom he could impart his art and give continuity to this great profession. That job proposal seemed to me a privilege: I have accepted with immense enthusiasm and I dedicated myself to this unique opportunity. Only a few years later, Master Hamlet confided to me the reason for choosing me among other boys: according to him I had talent and attitude to this job, even if I didn’t know this at that time.
The following eight years of work close to Master Amelto were a unique and unrepeatable experience, during which I learned the techniques of cutting, choice of the skins, assortment of colors, working the finest leathers like the macchiati from jaguar to leopards, to lynx, breshva, swakara, Bukara, sable, mink, martora, chinchilla, fox, etc. He taught me to work the Chiaro di Luna beaver, meaning that with a special technique also a simple quality of fur like this one can become a very special product He taught me how to perfectly chose the materials, the techniques of leather tanning to make the leather elastic and soft, the study of colors, until the finished garment. In 2000 Master Hamlet has left his profession and I acquired and took over his company Pellicceria Galli and became the sole owner. In those years I started working for important brands such as Bluemarine and Roberto Cavalli brands and start attending courses at S.A.G.A Furs Design Centre in Copenhagen to acquire new processing techniques. In the meantime I have also collaborated with the Sartoria Tirelli in Rome for which I made all the furs featured in the film Anna Karenina with Sophie Marceau.
By attending these courses I realized how important they were: their combination with my technical experience allow me to achieve the design and construction of a very high target product. This last experience was a stepping stone for my company since very important brands started to contact me for the assignment of their first lines and for the request of technical advice. To name one episode, I have been contacted by Mr. Christopher Bailey, Chief Designer of Burberry who had the opportunity to see some of my selection jobs and he wanted me for a very prestigious project.
I had also the opportunity to guide a project for NAFA, the major auction house for fur in the world based in Canada, who has contacted me to develop and modernize some types of furs such as marmots and beavers. I worked on this project for about eight months and it was a real success. I was able to design some production process and develop the processing techniques to achieve important product goals. Following these important experiences, which allowed me to become consultant of these two major establishments S.A.G.A of Copenhagen and NAFA in Canada, on 2014 I decided to transform the Pellicceria Galli into a modern structure, trying to include other important services to guarantee the result of the finished product and to guarantee a unique service for my clients. Here is Florence International.
Essential services we provide to our clients. Design and Technical Office offers the possibility to our clients to design and develop their own and specific product starting from initial and simple inputs.
Another significant service is the dyeing phase and color study. I can count on an important collaboration with a very well known Santa Croce tannery which allowed me to work with them and with their technicians, so I have the possibility to customized manual printing technique to meet single customer needs, with a lead time very much appreciated by customers. Moreover we provide our large experience in combining furs with all fabrics. We are able to achieve the perfectly match according to client’s desires, with the most advanced technique. At Florence International I have decided to keep an artisanal approach for my work and to produce my furs through a complete circle all inside my company, paying attention to highest quality of raw-materials and manufacturing processes by using the ultimate technique to work the furs… and always with the enthusiasm of that shop boy I was …
I made my passion my job.