Luigi Bevilacqua Textiles

Post date: Nov 28, 2016 6:1:53 PM

Today we took a walk to Luigi Bevilacqua, a more than century-old velvet manufacturer in Venice. While we arrived expecting to find only office space, we were pleasantly surprised to enter a large room with weavers and large wooden looms. Our original hypothesis was that many companies keep their offices in the historic center of Venice and their production facilities on the mainland. We believe that this is still mostly true, as Luigi Bevilacqua is the only manufacturing site on the Grand Canal.

We were amazed by both the machinery and level of detail present in these textiles. In our conversations with Alberto Bevilacqua, we learned that the company's major sources of business are the high fashion and interior design industries. Fashion designers often make garments out of the fabric to be shown on the runway, and interior designers use the textiles for upholstery and wall coverings. Although wholesale is not the most profitable, it is still the company's largest source of business, in addition to personal commissions (sometimes for Hollywood stars!). Mr. Bevilacqua expressed interest in hiring more weavers, provided the company had enough long-term orders. It takes years to train new weavers, and this time must be justified by a steady flow of business. A six-month job (for example, upholstering a couch) is not unheard of or unreasonable.

Going forward, we plan to view each business we visit sort of as its own case study; focusing more on what is is an example of, instead of simply what it is. (For example, seeing Luigi Bevilacqua as a company that mixes handiwork and machinery to create high-quality custom goods, rather than simply a velvet manufacturer.)