The Tailors of Socks

Bresciani is back. We stocked them some years ago and missed them when they went. With Shoe Shop opening, the time was right. A good shoe deserves a good sock, and there is no better sock than this.

In Italy, Bresciani are known as i sarti delle calze. The tailors of socks. It is not a name they gave themselves. It was earned.

Mario Bresciani founded the company in 1970 in Spirano, a small town outside Bergamo, after many years in the hosiery trade. For its first decade it made socks for others, quietly supplying some of the great luxury houses. The first pair to carry the Bresciani name appeared in 1980. In the nineties his sons Massimiliano and Fabio joined, and the name began to travel. In 2009 Mario was made a Knight of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Everything is still made in their own factories. Yarn in one door, finished socks out the other. Cotton, wool, cashmere, silk and linen. The machines are modern, running up to 264 needles to the cylinder. That is where the fine gauge and the close, even knit come from.

Then the hands take over. Twelve steps from knitting to packing, most of them manual. The toe is linked closed by hand, so there is no ridge to rub. Each sock is checked, pressed on a form, paired and filled with tissue. A coloured thread ties the pair together at the toe. The colour tells you the size. It slips off without scissors and without harming the knit. A small thing. It is also their signature.

The tailoring comparison holds. A good jacket and a good sock follow the same logic. Fine yarn, close attention, and finishing you feel rather than see. Most men never think about their socks until a cheap pair has slid into the heel of their shoe by eleven o’clock. A Bresciani stays where you put it.

They are often copied. Nobody has caught them.

Bresciani returns with Shoe Shop, opening 15 October at High Street. Made in Italy, finished by hand, and once again exclusive to Crane Brothers in New Zealand.

@bresciani1970