![]() What’s in a name: Super Duper was taken from a line in Irving Berlin’s 1929 song “Puttin’ on the Ritz” For materials, Super Duper relies on everything from lapin fur felt to cotton to make a range of styles from newsboy caps to pork pie models.Ĭompany Founders: Matteo Gioli, Veronica & Ilaria Cornacchini It’s divided between a small attic equipped with vintage tools that include a 1920s sewing machine and a downstairs office littered with finished goods, many of which are bespoke orders for discerning clients such as a tri-tone canary yellow, red and blue fedora made for popular Italian singer Jovanotti.ĭonning a stylish dark denim apron, Gioli ventures upstairs where he is surrounded by classic wooden hat blocks that serve to create the final shape of a hat’s crown after much steaming and pressing by hand. ![]() “She had no listed number but we found the street that she lived on and rang up neighbors in the phonebook until we got someone that knew her,” recalls Gioli.Ī one-time stable that used to keep draft horses is now Super Duper’s headquarters. Now committed to the idea of joining Italy’s next generation of artisans, they tracked down the author in hopes of finding a mentor to teach them the craft. Soon they got their hands on a hard-to-find tome penned by a veteran Florentine milliner that detailed the step-by-step process of hatmaking. “You need to get a sense of proportions and volume and the best way is to have a physical model in front of you.”Īfter discovering they shared a mutual obsession for artisanal hats - they are never without something covering their head when out and about - the group returned to their adopted home of Florence fueled by the desire to explore the world of hatmaking, a trade whose roots in the Tuscan city go back centuries. “In this profession you go immediately from a sketch to making a sample,” says Gioli, showing off his handiwork in the brand’s cozy atelier on the outskirts of Florence. From sewing to blocking they cut their teeth making prototypes. Not long after, the experienced hat maker was conducting courses for the trio at their city apartment to show them the techniques involved in creating a hat from scratch. ![]() “Traditionally, we Italians are more attuned to aesthetics than to technological innovation.” We got to talking and in the end decided to fall back on what marks us as Italians: old-fashion craftsmanship done by hand,” explains Veronica, whose background is in industrial design like Matteo, while Ilaria studied architecture. “The event was dedicated to wearable technology and innovation in fashion. Long-time hat wearers, the trio at Super Duper turned their sartorial hobby into a full-time business after Gioli crossed paths with the Cornacchini siblings at a design workshop in Eindhoven in 2009.
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