Company history
The Edelweiss spinning mill was founded in 1965 by Delfo and Sereno Barberis Negra, respectively grandfather and father of the current owners.
Certainly, it cannot be said that at the time the concept of environmental sustainability and circular economy was as widely felt as it is today (and certainly less than economic savings on raw materials!), but the underlying goal of Delfo and Sereno’s idea was the same: to avoid wasting still usable resources, to give life to something different, something newly useful.
Deep diving in the study of fibres, thanks to the development of textile technologies that were definitely innovative for the time, and, above all, drawing on their own experience and that of the artisans in their workshop, Sereno and Delfo began the production of regenerated yarns from textile waste, both pre- and post-consumer.
In nearly 60 years of activity, there have been many changes, mainly related to machinery and particularly those used for spinning. In 1965, the entire Edelweiss spinning mill exclusively utilized Ring spinning frames, which at the time were the universally prevalent type of machinery for all types of fibre spinning indiscriminately. Edelweiss’ Ring frames were fed by 7 carding machines, and the entire production was concentrated in the Pratrivero plant.
The continuous search for machinery better suiting the regenerated cotton processing led Edelweiss in the 1980s to introduce some Open-End machines, which were placed in the new plant in the Frazione Zoccolo, specifically purchased for this purpose and where a twisting department for these yarns was also created. Open-End machines allowed for the processing of much shorter fibres (such as those of shredded cotton) compared to Ring frames, as well as significantly speeding up production. In the late 1980s, Delfo Barberis Negra, the son of Sereno and the founder’s first grandson bearing the same name, joined the company and he is still serving as its CEO. Delfo immediately recognized the potential of Open-End spinning and purchased additional machines of this type, gradually replacing the Ring frames.
With the aim of having different machinery available to achieve the best possible results in different productions, from the late 1990s onwards Edelweiss also introduced Dref spinning frames, suitable for processing short fibres to obtain thicker yarns, of lower quality than Ring yarns but much cheaper, with a softer appearance, particularly sought after in specific applications (such as core yarns and various types of cords).
In 2001, a new facility was purchased in Ponzone, where the company transferred its warehouses (both raw material and finished product ones, which still remain here today) and offices. The twisting department was also relocated and consolidated in Ponzone, twisting there all the three different yarn types: Ring, Open-End, and Dref.
In 2007, Paolo Barberis Negra, younger brother of Delfo, also joined Edelweiss, focusing immediately on the company’s commercial management, particularly on Export, which gradually increased in importance, nowadays accounting for 50% of the turnover.
Over the years, the Ring spinning method was gradually abandoned, replaced predominantly by Open-End and, to a lesser extent, by Dref spinning. The complete decommissioning of Ring spinning frames occurred in 2013.
The replacement of Ring spinning with Open-End spinning allowed for significant space savings, enabling the entire production, including twisting, to be concentrated in the oldest Pratrivero facility by 2015. Offices were also relocated here to increase synergy between administration and production, thus enhancing efficiency.
Edelweiss still produces today with both Open-End spinning machines (1800 heads) and Dref spinning machines (54 heads), remaining one of the few remaining Dref spinning mills in Europe!
Throughout its approximately 60 years of activity, the company’s constant attention to an increasingly sustainable production process has also been of primary importance, both in terms of raw materials and energy consumption. This has led Edelweiss to be recognized not only for the quality of its products but also as an example of sustainability for the textile industry.
This is the history of Edelweiss: born in a mountainous and hostile land, with a centuries-old wool tradition that seeks the best virgin raw materials and looks unfavorably upon anything it does not consider “up to its standards”; born from a counter-current idea that bet everything on a different raw material, cotton – and even more: on what, of cotton, the rest of the world discarded! – which pursue its goal to the present day, when environmental sustainability awareness has finally grown, recognizing the great intrinsic value of a yarn that gives new life to waste, significantly reducing the textile industry’s impact on the environment.
Pioneers of regenerated yarns
Regenerated yarn, an evolution that naturally emerged in the 1960s in the two major Italian textile districts, Biella and Prato, initially found its raison d’être in offering a yarn that was cheaper but, for many applications, comparable or even preferable to virgin fibre yarn.
Over the years, many things have changed:
- Compared to the 1960s, yarn has continuously improved, thanks to increasing expertise in blending the right fibres to achieve the best performance for the final use.
- Machinery has changed, not so much for raw material preparation (textile waste returned to fibre form, the so-called "shoddy"), but mainly concerning the spinning method, constantly developed and modified for better use of short fibres.
- There has been a greater environmental awareness and a new purchasing criterion by consumers, who are increasingly sensitive to sustainability and therefore recycling and resource conservation. This has led, due to increasing demand and market laws, to a disruption of previous pricing logic: regenerated yarn, once more economical, is now recognized for its higher value, also tied to process traceability and the company's 360-degree social responsibility.
Esperience and quality
The extensive experience in regenerated yarn is certainly what best distinguishes Edelweiss, revealed both in the expertise in blending different fibres to achieve the desired final characteristics, and in developing an infinite range of colours simply by blending fibres of different hues without the need for dyeing. Most importantly, it lies in balancing all these factors to precisely deliver the yarn the customer desires, with maximum flexibility to provide a fully customized product.
