Heeft u al een jas van Casentino wol?
/Deze kwaliteit wol zal bij weinigen een belletje doen rinkelen, maar als u de foto's ziet van deze winterjas op maat, dan zult u direct de stof herkennen. (Onderstaand ook nog een korte geschiedenislesje)
A short history of Casentino Wool
Already back in the 14th century, a thick wool cloth was produced in the Casentino valley of Tuscany near the Sanctuary of La Verna in the districts of Stia and Soci. The Florentine wool guild commissioned producers in this area to carry out a finishing process for them, but prohibited them to make highly refined wools for themselves in order to not create competition to Florence and Prato’s wool industries, which were already well known for their high quality. Casentino wool was used for monks’ habits, to cover animals, and was worn by peasants. The rough but warm cloth came in brown and dark grey.
In the mid 19th century, with the industrial revolution, production in the area picked up along the Staggia river, which powered hydraulic machines. As they experimented in synthetic colouring, an error led to the creation of a bright orange wool that became characteristic of this fabric. With time, it became very fashionable, and other colours were introduced, including the second most common Casentino colour, a green the hue of the felt on pool tables. By the 1950s Casentino fabric was high fashion, worn by aristocrats and actors as a symbol of Italian fashion.
The characteristic curls on the surface of Casentino cloth, which make it warm, waterproof and resistant, seem at first glance to be piling. This effect is, however, much sought after and was originally done by a manual carding process using dried thistles inserted inside the loom. The industrial process replaced thistles with a machine called the ratinatrice (friezing machine), the metal combs of which produced the same effect.
