Our savoir-faire: an ecosystem of excellence.
Cashmere at its Purest.
Purest’s journey starts, unsurprisingly, with a journey. In 2007, while visiting Nepal, our founder Patrick Garbini came across a family-run atelier where a small team of skilful weavers made cashmere shawls and scarves of amazing quality. He was instantly blown away. However, it would take another two years and many more trips for the business plan to begin unfolding. It was a difficult yet very exciting challenge – to start a business producing top-quality cashmere scarves, travel and home accessories, hand-woven by skilled craftsmen based on original Italian designs and using the finest cashmere yarn. Eventually, 2011 saw the creation in Lugano of the brand Purest - a name that alone echoes the values it embodies: purity, quality, authenticity and, above all, the desire to create beauty through a virtuous, transparent process, producing luxury accessories that are also ethical to people and the environment.
Two souls.
In addition to its own collections, produced in limited numbers and available in selected stores around the world as well as in our digital flagship boutique, over the years Purest developed close partnerships with world-class brands sharing our values and our pursuit for excellence. For these brands we create bespoke collections of exclusive accessories as luxury corporate gifts or for resale, which enhance their positioning and prestige and bring them closer to their customers.
Excellence at every step.
We are committed to growing Purest by pursuing excellence. This is why over time we have created a real ‘ecosystem’ – a collection of virtuous partnerships and preferred craftsmen and suppliers enabling us to produce top-quality items in line with high – and ever-improving – environmental and labour protection standards. Our pursuit of excellence starts from using the world’s finest cashmere. Sourced from the plateaus of inner Mongolia, this yarn stands out for its fineness, length and even fibres. The very best of a material that already boasts a number of exceptional properties: heat-regulating, fire-resistant, capable of absorbing excess moisture, anti-bacterial as well as long-lasting if properly cared for. This incredibly soft yarn is brought to our weaving atelier in Nepal’s Kathmandu valley, the heart of Purest’s ecosystem. Here, a small group of craftsmen of extraordinary skill condenses the history, tradition and ability perfected by generations of weavers. Expert hands operate ancient looms and ever patiently give form to creations designed in Milan by our creative director Saverio Palatella.
Weaving combines and intertwines with dyeing. Expert alchemists in specialised ateliers dye yarns, fabrics and garments to perfection (except of course when the pure, natural colour of the fabric is a central element of the design), recommend the most suitable finishing and practice the ancient art of screen printing. The items are then finished using only pure river water originating in the Himalayas, ensuring even greater softness.
In addition to our Nepalese craftsmen, the Purest ecosystem of excellence also includes over twenty partner craftsmen in Italy and Switzerland selected for their skill and professionalism – talented weavers and embroiderers from the renowned Biella area, Italian knitwear ateliers, expert silk printers and seamstresses from the Como textile district, leather masters and Swiss tailor workshops.
Moreover, we rely on a network of suppliers who, by mutual esteem, grant us preferential access to their top-notch creations – most notably producers of premium yarns, including a fully sustainable cashmere and vicuña, the finest and one of the most precious yarns in the world.
Our network is topped off by creators of customised boxes entirely made of eco-friendly materials and independent quality control bodies certifying the excellence of our finished products.
All our amazing partners are coordinated by our Lugano headquarters, where our products are continuously innovated and where the last in a long series of quality controls is performed.
From Lugano, our exquisite accessories depart once again to be worn and enjoyed by customers around the world.