An interview by Evi Mibelli with Riccardo Leporini, Commercial Director of Cinelli Piume e Piumini.
There are places that combine the sweetness of the landscape with the industriousness of the people. Challenges that see young people full of initiative start businesses capable of marking the history and future of the area, exporting its name and products to the world.
The place is Buggiano, an ancient village of Etruscan origins in Valdinievole (Pistoia), not far from Collodi, known for being the birthplace of the fairy tale Pinocchio. It is here that Silvano Cinelli, after a training period at Salpi, a company founded after the war specializing in the processing of feathers, decided to start his own business. We are in 1964, in the midst of the economic boom. He founded Cinelli Piume e Piumini, transforming a predominantly artisanal activity into an industrial activity with the precise objective of offering a precious and irreplaceable natural material, worked with the utmost care, maximizing its performance.
Bed set consisting of Cinelli Piume e Piumini duvet and pillows.
This strategic line – maximum care, maximum performance – becomes the common thread that links Cinelli Piume e Piumini from the beginning to the current one, passing through the family line from Silvano Cinelli to his children. One wonders whether the birth of a company specializing in the processing of goose down draws on a previous vocation of the area or whether, instead, it is the result of a courageous entrepreneurial initiative.
“Actually no, Buggiano cannot be defined as an area specialized in this type of processing. It would presuppose the existence of multiple historically rooted activities dedicated to this type of production. In Italy there are currently three companies that work with down, including Cinelli Piume e Piumini is in Tuscany” replies Riccardo Leporini, Commercial Director of the company.
Riccardo Leporini, Commercial Director of Cinelli Piume e Piumini.
“The production of down is linked to the presence of meat goose farms. It is a food widely spread in central-northern Europe, but not in Italy. The feathers and rough down that Cinelli Piume e Piumini works, in fact, comes from those countries that consume goose meat. The supply chain involves the complete recovery of everything that can be used from the goose, including the plumage which would otherwise be considered waste material. We valorise a product considered waste by the food industry and return it to the market as a very high quality product for the home, hotels, furnishings and clothing.”
Complete bed set, pillows and duvets by Cinelli Piume e Piumini.
However, 60 years of presence in the area constitute an important ‘past’, an economic factor now rooted and recognized. And also a source of pride for the local community. There is an ability to work in and for the territory, and at the same time think in an international dimension, always attentive to the changes and challenges of the global market.
“Everything is based on quality, a word often used superficially and which instead calls for responsibility and awareness. Quality is for Cinelli Piume e Piumini central to its corporate vision and mission. It is a factor of commercial seriousness, and a primary condition for maintaining the trust and appreciation of the market. We have never given in to the idea of resorting, for example, to joint ventures with Asian producers – others have done so – precisely because it is only by having control over the entire production chain that you can guarantee the quality of the product, down to the smallest details .
The downward pricing policy rewards short-term competitiveness, but is weak and fragile in the medium and long term. Only quality, if it exists and is real, resists, guaranteeing the solidity and future of the company. For the same reason, no production phase is outsourced, which allows for timely control of each step and verification of the actual costs incurred.. Perhaps it may appear to be a rigid and at times orthodox entrepreneurial choice, but the results confirm its validity.
It’s not just an entirely Italian production, it’s a Cinelli production. Last but not least, the rooting in the surrounding area has an impact. Sixty years of presence has a value not only for the company but also for those who work there. It’s feeling ‘at home’, it’s contributing to the growth of opportunities and the future for families and the local community.
Out of almost 70 employees only 4 come from a radius greater than 15 kilometres. And even in relationships with suppliers of down accessory materials, the choice always falls on those nearby. A network of exchange and proximity that brings benefits to everyone also in terms of production, cost control and job opportunities”.
FW 2024/2025 quilt collection.
Solidity is therefore the result of strategic choices which on the one hand create identity and belonging – both as a company with family roots and as a territory – on the other the ability to face moments of transition and growth with the spirit of an entrepreneurship that knows evaluate risks and create new opportunities.
Exemplary was the experience of Ciesse, a branch of Cinelli Piume e Piumini, founded in 1970 which produced sportswear in goose down. A case history of communication and marketing. Designing and manufacturing high-performance clothing items, in goose down, intended to dress the team of an expedition to Antarctica was a brilliant and highly successful image operation that made Ciesse and Cinelli Piume and Piumini itself famous.
“It all started from the intuition of Silvano Cinelli, a winter sports enthusiast, who observed how skiers used uncomfortable and heavy clothing. Why not provide jackets and trousers padded with down, which warms and is very light? Sometimes you just need to look around to find winning ideas.
The Ciesse experience ended in the 90s with the sale of the brand. In just over twenty years, new competitors entered the outdoor and sportswear market supported by the big sports brands. It was no longer sustainable and therefore the choice was to exit the market as a direct manufacturer, to remain in the clothing sector but as a third-party supplier”.
FW 2024/2025 quilt collection.
A transition that marks, as happens during the life of a company, a moment of crisis that forces us to review plans and identify the direction to take for the future.
“Yes, apart from the Ciesse, Cinelli experience Piume e Piumini actually had no setbacks or particular difficulties to overcome. The 2008 crisis and the one triggered by the Covid period were actually very productive. In fact, we have not suffered any repercussions and, on the contrary, work and profits have increased.
Only now can we feel, even if marginally, the contraction that the luxury market is experiencing at a global level, the reference target for Cinelli Piume e Piumini. However, the situation is constantly evolving and all we can do is stay ‘listening’ to pick up on moods and changes in direction”
FW 2024/2025 quilt collection.
If it is true that for Cinelli Piume e Piumini the key element of its success lies in the high quality of the product it presents to the market, how does it manage to withstand very tough competition that works with high-performance technical materials that seem to ensure the same performance as the goose down? It is important to understand what makes this natural product unbeatable even by the most cutting-edge textile technology.
“Of the many materials that exist and create lightness, insulation and warmth, down contains the characteristics of the others all together. A significant advantage. The down manages to retain the body’s heat, does not make it sweat, and thermoregulates it thanks to the fact that it is hygroscopic, not retaining humidity. It does so with little material, guaranteeing lightness and freedom of movement.
Beyond the raw material which has its intrinsic peculiarities, our efforts are aimed at investing in machinery that improves all phases of the industrial manufacturing process with a greater production capacity in terms of volumes and an excellent qualitative yield. And then let’s not forget the central role of sustainability which invests raw materials, processes, products in a systemic vision where every action determines the final quality of the product and its impact on the environment”
FW 2024/2025 quilt collection.
It is a crucial point, today more than ever. Cinelli Piume e Piumini is aware of this and has dedicated huge investments to minimize its environmental footprint. Starting from the installation of a photovoltaic system on the solar panels of all company sectors with an autonomous production of 60% of the electrical needs necessary for the operation of the machines.
Followed by a widespread energy efficiency intervention on buildings and systems such as, for example, the insulation of the boilers to heat the water intended for washing, sanitizing and sanctifying the goose down.
“We have also invested in process water purification. We use a lot of water and the water that comes out of production, before being returned to the network, is treated to reduce the presence of pollutants, conveying it to an internal purifier located upstream of the municipal sewerage system. At the moment it is not possible to recover the water coming out of the purifier because to make the down hypoallergenic and antibacterial it is necessary to always use clean water”
FW 2024/2025 quilt collection.
Apart from the intrinsic sustainability of down as a natural and biodegradable material, recyclability is also an obvious consequence of a green choice for Cinelli Piume and Piumini. Feather fillings coming from clothing or pillows and bed duvets are recovered, washed and sanitized, obtaining a regenerated duvet whose performance is slightly lower than virgin duvet (lower fill index with less thick flakes), but with the advantage of putting a stop to waste and promoting a conscious use of precious resources still capable of ensuring comfort, quality and well-being.
“A new line has been created called Natura and which currently consists of a collection of duvets and pillows. The down used is GRS certified, meaning it comes from suppliers specialized in the collection and selection of used products. Once I joined Cinelli Piume e Piumini,the down enters the regeneration cycle, going through all the selection, cleaning and quality control phases”.
FW 2024/2025 quilt collection.
Sustainability and recyclability allow us to approach the theme of ethics linked to the world of animals. On the one hand – as long as goose meat is food for families – the down finds use in other production sectors, avoiding waste and sending it to waste disposal; on the other hand, recyclability represents a subsequent and decisive step, detaching the feather from the meat supply chain. The topic is delicate and the increased sensitivity towards animal protection requires a choice of field.
“It is not easy to manage this type of sensitivity but it is also imperative to take charge of it. Cinelli Piume e Piumini purchases feathers and down only from highly selected European breeders who do not carry out any live plucking operations, which cause unnecessary suffering. All specimens are guaranteed living conditions that respect their ethology and total absence of mistreatment. We have been working on traceability for years, and we are part of EDFA, the international association that brings together producers of down articles with the aim of protecting consumers, and in particular animals..
Not only that. We have obtained the Downpass certification which guarantees and supports the protection of each animal in a rigorous control chain in total transparency, which we have also added RDS traceability which certifies the origin of the down from animals raised in health and with respect for their well-being . It should be underlined that RDS traceability is an action promoted by a non-profit organization involved in the development of sustainability protocols and rules for the textile industry”
Choosing Cinelli Piume e Piumini means choosing not only quality and comfort. It means purchasing an item that will literally last ‘a lifetime’. And nothing is more sustainable, respectful and ethical than something that passes through time unchanged.
FW 2024/2025 quilt collection.
On the cover, one of the proposals from the Autumn Winter 2024/2025 quilt collection by Cinelli Piume e Piumini.
