Mantero is expecting a booming future after the Chanel investment

Fashion Network

30-04-2025

A key element in Chanel 's long-term strategy is building a network of suppliers, some of which it invests in. The latest is Mantero, one of Italy's greatest silk manufacturers and printers.
Located in Como, the nerve centre of the Italian silk-making industry, Mantero has been working with Chanel for over half a century.
'We've had a great history with Chanel since 1973, and look forward to that expanding even further,' explains Lucia Mantero, who, together with her brother and company president Franco, represents the fourth generation to manage this family business.
As reported, Chanel announced it had acquired a 35% stake in Mantero in early April.
Founded in 1902 by great-grandfather Riccardo Mantero, who left his native Piedmont to come to Como in neighbouring Lombardy, Como has been known since the 17th century for its cultivation of mulberry, the source of the most luxurious natural silk. Its location beside a large alpine lake and access to hydroelectric power helped develop the local production of silk, which requires a lot of water.
Today, Mantero employs some 550 people spread over 40,000 square meters, concentrating on producing and printing fine silk and long, high-quality fibers like cashmere. The company operates two plants—one of which editors toured this week prior to Chanel's elegiac cruise collection show at lakeside Villa d'Este.
Mantero doesn't have its own boutiques and concentrates on a unique B-to-B business supplying the very best brands in fashion and luxury. Within Mantero's design department, over 100 people create marvellous patterns and images.
It is supported by a brilliant library and archive with over 80,000 fabric swatches of several meters in a huge upstairs archive.
'Each day we try to develop new ideas, working closely with top brands like Chanel, our single largest client,' explains Franco as he tours the factory.
Acting like a history of silk, the huge archive—in Franco's words—is 'a living proposal and inspiration for our studio,' whose oldest swatches date from the 1820s and include Mantero materials dating back to the 1920s.
Top-level silks come about thanks to significant technical advances, seen in remarkable scarves with jacquard centers and printed trims, where multiple shades of the same colors add the sense of three dimensions to cabochon jewels or pearls, or ape the ceilings of grand villas on Italian lakes.
At the end of the '90s, Mantero invested heavily in machinery to create silks and fabrics, guaranteeing the future of Made in Italy. Although nowadays, practically all of the raw silk cocoons used in silk manufacturing come from China.
The plant is an impressive meeting of technology and artisanal know-how, where the smell of paint and the hundreds of screens strangely evoke Andy Warhol's Factory in New York.
Four giant revolving 50-meter-long, locally made conveyor belts constantly shuttle bolts of silk held precisely in place by light glue, as skilled artisans carefully position silk screens before a mechanical squeegee board swishes across, imposing a layer of colour. Many of the Chanel scarves use over 30 different silk screens.
'Our record is 45, which is pretty complicated. Because you must be hyper-precise—a fraction of a centimetre out and you notice the flaw, and you have to throw the material out,' notes Lucia.
Printing is done digitally downstairs, where Japanese Epson printers work on repetitive patterns and thicker fabrics used in handbags.
After coming on board in 2000, the new generation has also emphasised the environment, recently installing huge new machines to wash silk rolls after printing in order to better maintain colour.
'We used to use 180 litres to make a single square meter of silk, but now we have got that below 50 litres,' stresses Franco, noting that Mantero produces over two million linear meters annually.
Some of these appeared in the latest Chanel cruise collection—a Romy Schneider movie-star glamour show staged Tuesday night at Villa d'Este on Lake Como. The models' haircuts mimicked Schneider's messy boudoir look. The stars perched around metal tables on the legendary hotel's sunny terraces.
Explaining the thinking behind the investment, Chanel's president of fashion, Bruno Pavlovsky, says: 'We have worked with Mantero every single year for over a half-century, together developing exceptional products. Today, the situation is such that neither Lucia nor Franco has heirs. So, the question has to be asked—what will happen with one of the most beautiful Italian manufacturers if there is an accident tomorrow morning? That's why we want to be present and help. This is not about control. The investment needed to create Mantero's exceptional silk is very high. So, we can help with that to guarantee Mantero makes the best prints, using less electricity and polluting less, while still making money.'
Business may be tricky in luxury, but Mantero expects a double-digit gain in 2025 turnover to over €100 million. It's essentially a B-to-B business that sells less than 3% of its own branded products online, as much for marketing research as revenue.
Like Chanel—a company noted for its discretion—the Mantero siblings remain silent when asked to name other brands they work with.