Botto Giuseppe: 150 Years of Cashmere Craftsmanship from Valle Mosso

Botto Giuseppe (Lanificio Botto Giuseppe & Figli) is an Italian mill founded in 1876 in Valle Mosso, Biella, specializing in fully vertically integrated cashmere, wool, and silk production, marking its 150th anniversary in 2026.

This one comes with genuine timing behind it. 2026 is Botto Giuseppe's 150th year in business, and the mill is actively marking the anniversary right now — new capsule collections, anniversary events at its Valle Mosso site, and a renewed push on the sustainability credentials it's built over the past decade. It's rare to get to write about a heritage mill while the anniversary is actually happening rather than years after the fact.

"Pin," 1876

The mill was founded in 1876 by Giuseppe Botto Poala, known within the family and the business as "Pin," in Valle Mosso, part of the Biella wool district. That nickname has stuck around long enough to become the name of the company's own scarf and accessories line, Pin 1876 — a small detail, but one that tells you how directly this company still identifies with its founder a century and a half later. The company remains in family hands, now led by the fourth generation under CEO Silvio Botto Poala.

Every Stage, Under One Roof

Like VBC, Botto Giuseppe runs a fully vertically integrated model — spinning, weaving, and jersey production, dyeing and finishing, all handled internally across its two facilities in Valle Mosso and Tarcento. For a buyer, the practical upside is the same one we've talked about elsewhere in this series: no outsourced step means no third-party inconsistency creeping into a batch. For a cashmere-focused mill specifically, this control matters even more, since cashmere is far less forgiving of processing shortcuts than wool.

Where the Cashmere Actually Comes From

Botto Giuseppe sources its cashmere from Inner Mongolia — specifically referencing farms in the Alashan region — and works directly with breeders rather than through intermediaries, which gives the mill traceability back to specific farms and herding practices. That directness is increasingly the differentiator between mills that can genuinely answer "where did this come from" and mills that can only answer "somewhere in Mongolia."

A Real Sustainability Record, Not Just a Badge

Botto Giuseppe was the first Italian mill to supply Cradle to Cradle Certified wool and silk yarns, starting in 2017, and now holds that certification across roughly half its product range, alongside Responsible Wool Standard certification and others. Both of its Italian facilities run on renewable hydroelectric and solar power. I'm including this level of detail deliberately — these are third-party certifications with defined criteria, not a company simply calling itself sustainable in its own marketing copy.

The Yoo's Club View

Cashmere blends in our catalogue don't all come from mills that control their own supply chain this tightly, and that's worth knowing before you buy. Vertical integration at Botto Giuseppe's level — sourcing, dyeing, spinning, weaving all in-house — is a genuinely different quality proposition from cashmere that's been dyed and finished by a third party after the fact, even when both end up labeled the same fibre content.

From 150-Year Milestone to a Buying Decision

A mill that's stayed family-run for four generations and 150 years hasn't done that by accident, and it's not really the anniversary number itself that should sway a purchase — it's what the number implies: a business that's had to keep earning trust, generation after generation, in an industry that's seen plenty of competitors fold or get absorbed. Buying into that is buying continuity, not just cloth.

Explore the Botto Giuseppe Collection at Yoo's Club.

FAQ

Does Botto Giuseppe only produce cashmere? No. While cashmere is central to its reputation, Botto Giuseppe also produces fine wool, silk, alpaca, and vicuña fabrics and yarns, alongside jersey knitwear fabric, across its two Italian facilities.

What does "vertical integration" actually mean for fabric quality? It means a single company controls every stage of production — sourcing, spinning, dyeing, weaving, and finishing — rather than outsourcing steps to third parties. That reduces the chances of inconsistency creeping into a batch and allows tighter traceability back to the raw material's origin.

 Daniel Hui, Founder, Yoo's Club