Monza and the Art of Hat-Making

There is a place in Monza where time seems to stand still, where it seems to relive for real an older and now forgotten world. 

This place is the Vimercati Hat Factory: a workshop that with tradition and innovation is able to carry on a production that made the city, between the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, a specialized industrial center.

The Arte del Cappello developed in Monza as early as the late 17th century, when small workshops focused on the production of woolen hats. It was from the 1870s, however, that some workshops turned into full-fledged enterprises, marking their industrial advancement. The introduction of machines, new patents, and the exploitation of railroads allowed the largest families of Monza hatmakers to be recognized worldwide. Examples are the activities of the Villa, the Valera and Ricci families, the Cambiaghi, the Fratelli Paleari, and the Carozzi. Some of the portraits are now on display at the Musei Civici di Monza.

Monza had become the "City of the Hat", capable of producing more than 60,000 finished hats a day, and was recognized as one of the world's major centers of felt manufacturing. From 12 enterprises with 163 employees in 1864, it grew to 26 factories with 3842 employees by the end of the century. Wool was imported from France, England, and Germany; while felts and finished hats were also sold for Europe and South America. 
By 1832 the Pio Istituto De Cappellari in Monza had already been formed, with the purpose of aiding members in cases of illness and unemployment due to lack of work. 

The decline of the Monza hat industry took place as early as the world wars. It was the economic boom, however, that marked its almost total disappearance: new fashions, inconvenience of use in automobiles, and markets meant that the Monzese Hat Factory now became something special to look for. 

Welcome, then, to Monza, to discover "madhatters" whose places deserve to be known and visited.

The brothers Gabriele and Giulio Vimercati, already hatmakers by trade, started a family-run hat factory in the fall of 1953. Gabriele's sons-Giuseppe, Giorgio and Marco-at a very young age learned the techniques of manufacturing, carrying on the workshop by creating precious headgear. Today grandchildren Roberto, Fabrizio and Elisa also work in the company.

As a child I spent many hours in the hat factory, watching every movement, every transformation until a hat was created. I still remember the steam that enveloped the felt, the care with which it was handled, many stacks of hats throughout the company, the boxes ready for shipment. As a child, I never imagined that one day I would be working right there where Dad or uncles were. Without realizing it, though, I was already learning the movements, the techniques, and I was fascinated." Fabrizio

The Cappellificio Vimercati deals with the so-called "in nero" processing, consisting of as many as 10 stages, by which the felt cone is transformed into a finished hat.

Surprising certainly remain some steps: 

• the Apprettatura, the first stage, where the degree of rigidity of the future hat is decided. The machine causes the sizing agent (liquid shellac) to penetrate the felt.
• the Informing, the third stage, where the hatter prepares the felt, choosing the size of the head height and the width of the brim.
• the Sanding, the sixth stage, where the hat wing is steamed and pressed onto wooden hoops by means of a heavy sandbag, so that it takes on the desired shape. 

In 2020, Vimercati Hats 1953 implemented a project to create a digital archive, with the aim of collecting the testimonies of those who worked in Monza's hat factories so as not to lose the past, pass it on and revive it, with the dream of one day being able to have a Hat Museum in Monza.

Photo Credits: VIMERCATI HATS 1953

Source: in-Lombardia.it - Text edited by LAURA VALLERI, licensed guide ConfGuide-GITEC