Why I Love Luigi Borrelli Shirts

I was talking to a menswear buyer the other day, and he told me something that he had heard while in Italy during a Borrelli appoIntment. As we all know Borrelli is famous for the handwork on their shirts: hand sewn buttonholes, interior collar band, yoke, etc. Apparently this work really is done by little old Italian ladies at their homes in the nearby countryside surrounding the Borrelli factory. When the ladies send the shirts back to the factory, the shirts have to be vigorously washed because they are covered in cigarette ash, dirt from the natural oil in the women's hands, tiny drops of blood, and the shirts smell like food.

Of course by the time they reach your Neiman Marcus they are perfectly presentable examples of high-quality craftsmanship, but I love the idea that they begin life in such a humble and human way.