Textile Companies in Italy

Archivio Giuseppe Luraghi

Giuseppe Eugenio Luraghi (1905-1991) was a leading manager and industrialist in the Italian economy of the 20th century. Known above all for his role at the helm of Alfa Romeo from 1960 to 1974, he worked in various companies in Italy, as attested by the papers collected at the Bocconi Historical Archives. 

One of Giuseppe Luraghi’s first jobs was managing the Cotonificio di Chiavenna e Laveno: materials collected include the official sales handbook for cotton yarns dated 1928, and several official labels, perhaps color samples, from the late 1920s. 

Cotonificio Chiavenna_Vendita filati 1928_AGL-08-082

Tissue paper by Società Anonima Cotonifici di Chiavenna e Laveno, 1928. Archivio Giuseppe Luraghi.

In the years he worked at the Lanerossi textile company, "established with deed dated 9 January 1873", he participated in the 29th International Conference of the Wool Industry, held from 30 May to 4 June 1960 in Venice. His speech, entitled “Effects of the growing use of various fibers on the traditional characteristics of the wool industry”, would be published along with other speeches in the June 1960 issue of “Laniera”. 

Lanerossi_Statuto 1956_AGL-05-001

Lanerossi Company Statute, 1956. Archivio Giuseppe Luraghi.

Lanerossi_Dizionario tessile_AGL-05-025

Lanerossi: English-Italian Italian-English Wool Textile Dictionary, 1958. Archivio Luraghi.

Lanerossi_rivista Laniera 1960_AGL-05-028

Laniera. Rivista mensile fondata nel 1887: issue dedicated to the XXIX International Conference in Venice, June 1960. Giuseppe Luraghi Archive.

Lanerossi_orditura_AL_161.2_003

Lanerossi Factory warping. Archivio Giuseppe Luraghi.

He went on play an important role at Necchi, the sewing machine manufacturer, from which he resigned in 1979. That same year he was appointed Vice President of the textile firm Gaetano Marzotto e figli (a financial holding for the development of the textile industry) covering the period from the second half of the 1970s to the first half of the 1980s.

Necchi in poche righe_AGL-06-011

The sewing machine division at Necchi, 1976. Archivio Giuseppe Luraghi.

Marzotto_sede Milano_AL_093_001

Marzotto representative office in Milan San Babila, 1980s. Photo Luciana Mulas, Milan. Archivio Giuseppe Luraghi.

Finally, the Giuseppe Luraghi Archive contains documents regarding the Lanificio di Somma and SOFIST – Società Finanziaria Sviluppo Tessile  (a financial holding for the development of the textile industry) covering the period from the second half of the 1970s to the first half of the 1980s.

Lanificio Somma_esercizio 1978_AGL-08-072

Lanificio di Somma: report and balance sheet for the financial year 1978.