Giuseppe Botto and his first 150 years: The 360° label relaunched

Revenue of approximately 70 million euros in 2025 for this Biella-based textile leader, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary by further emphasizing eco-sustainability and relaunching the Botto Giuseppe 360° label.

Botto Giuseppe is one of those companies (and there aren’t many still in business after a century and a half) that have helped cement the high quality standards of “Made in Italy,” particularly by always remaining at the forefront of innovation, keeping pace with the profound changes in the industry, especially in terms of prioritizing the ecosystem in production processes—a requirement that has led to a proliferation of the certifications needed to stay current.

“They’re popping up like mushrooms; every now and then a new, even more up-to-date one emerges,” Silvio Botto Poala, CEO of Botto Giuseppe, confirms to FashionNetwork.com.

“There are two people in our company whose sole job is to handle that. For the 99th edition of Pitti Filati (and for the upcoming Milano Unica textile fair), we wanted to create three products in which we tried to implement a Digital Product Passport, just to get a sense of what the situation will look like in the near future. One is SlowWool Lite, a 17-micron carded wool; the other is SlowWool 15, a super-fine 15-micron wool; and then there’s Cashmere Flair, which is already traceable in our production.
 
“It’s clear that when it comes to certifications, you have to stay up to date today, because what was taken for granted yesterday may no longer be useful tomorrow and could be replaced by higher-level protocols,” continues the executive of the historic textile brand, which was founded in 1876 by Giuseppe Botto Poala—known as Pin—in Valle Mosso, near Biella, a renowned wool-producing region.

Since then, the company has opened a second plant in Tarcento, in the northeastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

“For example, RWS remains a benchmark certification for wool, but it offers very little traceability, whereas today our customers are seeking more certifications for regenerative agriculture, such as Land to Market or Regenagri, but the problem is that certifying farms—even large ones—using these technologies becomes expensive and very demanding, so not all farms can keep up with the time and cost requirements. We try to support them, because it’s essential that the supply chain lends a hand throughout the entire production process.”

A new development from the textile company is Botto Giuseppe 360°, a label revived from the recent past and relaunched to mark the company’s 150th anniversary. In this capsule collection, the cashmere produced by the Valle Mosso-based company—a combed cashmere featuring a color palette of various mélange shades—has been developed to highlight Botto Giuseppe’s vertically integrated model and its three operational units: spinning, weaving, and jersey production. The collection will include complete outfits (coats, jackets, shirts, pants, scarves, sweaters, and hats) made from this luxurious material—in knit, woven, and jersey forms—with a focus on cashmere certified by the Sustainable Fiber Alliance.

“We start with our product and strive to showcase its full potential,” says the CEO.
 
The company has already been in business for 150 years.

“That’s right, and we have the fourth generation of the founding family at the helm of the company. I think that’s quite rare,” Silvio Botto Poala recalled last week in an interview with the American press.

He shares the role of CEO with his cousin Ferdinando Botto Poala, who oversees production.

“And all four generations have been through a lot. The first and second generations lived through two world wars; my father had to deal with a flood that devastated one plant and destroyed another; then my generation had to face the introduction of the euro, the 2008 financial crisis, Covid-19, and China’s entry into the market, which upended market dynamics. We’ve started from scratch many times and invested huge sums just to rebuild, and despite the numerous challenges, we’ve always managed to maintain our high quality standards.”

The Piedmont-based company has approximately 600 clients, but it is always a few dozen of them who drive the bulk of the company’s business, generating more than 50% of its revenue, which in 2025 stood at very close to 70 million euros. Yarns account for 50% of revenue, shuttle-woven fabrics for 40%, and jersey for 10%.

“However, we want to increase the jersey segment, because as the smallest segment, it could offer greater opportunities for growth,” says the Piedmont-based executive.
 
2026 has gotten off to a better start, with a 10% increase in revenue.

“But we need to understand one thing,” Botto Poala explains. “Following Pitti Filati 99, we’ll be releasing updated price lists because the costs of all raw materials have risen. So, to what extent will customers accept these increases—which have been quite significant, especially for wool? We’ll know more by the time of Milano Unica.”
 
As mentioned, Botto Giuseppe has always been synonymous with sustainability, a path the company has been pursuing since 2015. First, by investing in renewable energy—such as solar panels and hydroelectric power plants—and then by improving its corporate wellness practices and focusing on sourcing materials and production techniques with eco-friendly credentials.

Among others, Botto Giuseppe holds certifications such as the Responsible Wool Standard, the Global Recycle Standard, the Global Organic Textile Standard, and the ZDHC program for chemical reduction, as well as Cradle to Cradle, a certification that considers the entire life cycle of a fabric.

Furthermore, the Biella-based company has been publishing an annual sustainability report since 2021. A new (ending in late 2025) three-year pilot project that Botto Giuseppe has joined—led by The Woolmark Company in collaboration with the non-profit environmental organization Pollination Group—calls for downstream players in the supply chain to help support the development of regenerative agriculture and sustainable farming techniques.

The Australian government will contribute an amount equivalent to that of private companies.

“An excellent example of what can happen when the supply chain collaborates,” said Botto Poala.

“Sometimes people ask me why I care so much about sustainability. I reply, ‘Because I believe it will make a difference in the future,’” Silvio Botto Poala added to the U.S. press, noting that the Trump administration had created significant difficulties for the industry, proving “counterproductive for the U.S. domestic market, because initially the United States faced a devalued dollar, followed by tariffs in various production areas.

“In America,’ he explains, “there are production facilities that were shut down 20, 30, or 40 years ago and never resumed operations, so whether production takes place in Vietnam, China, Italy, or Turkey, these are areas where tariffs have been increased. All of these have become direct costs passed on to American customers. Furthermore, the war with Iran has significantly increased transportation costs—some have even doubled—so I ask myself, ‘Who has benefited from this measure, given that the final costs have ultimately been passed on to consumers?’ It seems to me that it hasn’t worked,” he concludes.