Service

Historic archive

Thomas Mason

The Thomas Mason archives cover more than a century of the English company's history in more than seven hundred volumes. From the oldest book, dated 1845, to that of the Twenties, the evolution of style research for shirt making is astronomic especially as far as colour is concerned. At the beginning it was the pale colours in all their hues that dominated: browns, reds, yellows and greens with natural dyes obtained by extracting colour from plants and flowers. After the discovery and introduction of chemical dyes, the last volumes contain samples of fabrics of much brighter colours with the brand new pink and purple plus many other tones made possible thanks to this technological innovation. The archives, available at the Albino address, represent a precious source of inspiration that can be consulted by the creatives and by our customers, a tiny museum projected into the future.

Albiate 1830

Acquired in 2006 by Dietfurt, the historical archives of Albiate 1830 are a precious resource that contains the history of the Bohemian textile tradition of the last century in more than 600 volumes. To preserve the fabrics optimally, a special air conditioned room has been created for them. Examples are found of embroidery, brocades, damasks, flecked prints, leno weaves. Voile fabrics together with herringbone weaves, tartans and fil coupé. The first Exclusives are there too, sent to Paris at the beginning of the 20th century.

Samples to measure

Examining, evaluating and choosing fabrics from cards and books. A first approach to Cotonificio Albini reserved for all Customers.  

"Clothings" of fabric are added inside the cards to give a first impression of the structures (item), patterns (weaves) and selections (colours).  

The books, as the name suggests, are books containing various fabric samples, grouped according to item type and creation line.

Once the customer has examined the items he is interested in, he chooses the fabrics for making the samples to present at fairs or events.

Of the products chosen, the customers can ask for the "piece type" that corresponds to the length necessary to make up their garments.

Continuous collections

Cotonificio Albini believes in the importance of providing its Customers with the real Made in Italy style and quality combined with a fast delivery service. .

The Group's brands guarantee a wide selection of fabrics all through the year, ready in stock.

The Albini Classic Express collection is a range of 1200 classic variations, with mainly standard colours and 38 articles that will satisfy classic, sporty and urban tastes.

Thomas Mason proposes two continuous collections. Silverline is synonymous with great creativity and imaginative colours with that essential touch of British eccentricity. Goldline, incomparable for its colours, brightness and silky texture, is animated by the great respect for tradition, by constantly keeping an eye on innovation, by obsessive attention to quality and by the choice of yarns and the finishing process.

David & John Anderson represents the top of the range, a line dedicated to real shirt “connoisseurs". The fabrics are made with extremely fine yarns using the very best quality cottons in the world, like Giza 45 and Sea Island.

 

Exclusive

An exclusive design is a creative development asked for by the customer strictly for him so he has something unique.

But how does an exclusive design come to be?
Cotonificio Albini offers its privileged customers this prestigious service, whether they are customers of long standing or only recently acquired. The offer of an exclusive design can be for a single season or continue in time. The Exclusive Design office, part of the company's in-house organisation, has eight workers in it: five creatives and three operatives.

The Albini Group can count on the dedicated Albini-2 factory, an example of excellence on the international textile scene. This is a specific production facility dedicated exclusively to manufacturing samples: a real company engine for researching the product thanks to cutting edge machinery.

One very important function is that linked to the historical Thomas Mason archives. Here, besides the internal creatives, even the customers can spend whole days leafing through the old collections for inspiration. The basis for developing a serious and long-term work project is to have extensive knowledge of the customer, with plenty of documentation concerning its background from the company. Consequently, the interchange of information with the specifically dedicated product office is of paramount importance both in terms of ideas and in terms of materials.