Reda

Merino worsted from farm to finish

Reda has woven merino in Valle Mosso, in the hills above Biella, since 1865, when Carlo Reda turned an old mill into a wool mill. In 1919 the brothers Albino and Francesco Botto Poala bought it, and their family runs it still. Since 2005 four cousins have shared the work: Ercole, Francesco, Fabrizio and Guglielmo Botto Poala.

The name survived the sale by contract. The 1919 agreement required the new owners to keep trading as Reda, and by the time that clause lapsed the name was too well known to drop. So they added one word, Successori, meaning successors, and the company is Successori Reda to this day. When the Biella flood of 1968 almost destroyed the mill, the family rebuilt in the same valley rather than move.

Reda sits at the serious end of the Italian trade without the showmanship. It sells to around 450 clients and exports more than 80 per cent of what it weaves. The core is fine, pure merino worsted, clean and smooth, in the Super 110s to 120s qualities that make the best everyday suits. It also moved early on performance: Reda Flexo, launched in 2019, is a stretch wool for tailoring that moves with you without looking technical.

Sourcing is where Reda stands apart. Since the early 1990s the family has owned three merino stations in New Zealand's high country, Otamatapaio, Rugged Ridges and Glenrock, together close to 30,000 hectares. It also buys through the ZQRX programme from more than 100 New Zealand growers. The mill has held ISO 14001 environmental certification since 2004, became a certified B Corp in 2020 and publishes a yearly impact report. The figures in it are candid: in 2024 about 37 per cent of the wool it bought carried a named welfare or land certification, and a solar plant at Croce Mosso now saves around 180 tonnes of CO2 a year.

We like that honesty, and we like the cloth. Reda worsted is smooth and dry, takes a press and keeps it, and the colour stays true from one bolt to the next. It is what lets a casual jacket go to lunch with a client.

Five jackets in our Everyday Archive are cut from Reda: the Coffee Check Wool Casual Jacket, the Green Check Wool Casual Jacket, the Green Check Wool Jacket, the White Wool Jacket and the White Linen Casual Jacket, a linen and wool cloth for summer. Each is made to measure in Sydney. Ask to see the Reda bunches at your fitting.