Fratelli Tallia di Delfino

Soft-handed fine worsteds

Fratelli Tallia di Delfino has made cloth in Strona, a village in the Biella hills, since 1903, when Delfino Tallia opened a fine drapery business there. In 1921 his sons put their name on the door, founding Fratelli Tallia di Delfino, the Tallia brothers, sons of Delfino, to trade in fine cloth. They added a worsted spinning company in 1929 and merged the two in 1933. In 2022 the Italian government listed the name as a historic trademark of national interest.

The mill still makes everything in Strona. It weaves around 900,000 yards a year and exports about 70 per cent, and since 2008 it has belonged to the Marzotto group, alongside its sister mill Guabello. Over the years the brand has been endorsed by the actors Carlo Dapporto and Alberto Lupo and by the cycling champions Fausto Coppi and Vittorio Adorni. In 2013 Saks Fifth Avenue and Woolmark gave it their Fabric No. 1 award.

Tallia di Delfino is known for luxury with a sense of play. In 2011 it wove 24K, a fine wool blended with 24-carat gold. Honey Way is a wool and silk cloth finished with beeswax. Archivio 1903 is named for the founding year, and the cashmere and Suprema Lana lines sit at the soft end of the book. Throughout, the house style is a soft, round hand: cloth that feels gentler than its weight suggests and drapes rather than stands.

Part of that softness is local. The mill uses water from the Strona, which runs unusually low in calcium, and soft water is prized for washing and finishing wool. The fibre comes from further away: fine Australian merino, Mongolian cashmere, South African mohair and silk. The mill claims full traceability for its wool, holds ISO 14001 for environmental management and SA8000 for workplace standards, and follows the ZDHC programme on hazardous chemicals.

For its 120th anniversary, in October 2023, Italy issued a postage stamp showing the Strona mill. Few weavers can say the national post has put their building on an envelope.

We reach for Tallia di Delfino when a client finds crisp English suiting a little stern. The cloth is fine and fluid, and it rewards careful making. The Mayfair Avenue Prince of Wales Check Grey Suit in our range is cut from it: a classic check in a soft hand, double-breasted with six buttons, made to measure in Sydney. Ask to see the current Tallia di Delfino books at your fitting.