Di POLDO is well-known for its artisanal knitwear from Italy made from the best cashmere. It perfectly embodies the Milanese style and offers high-quality garments and an amazing color range for its products. In addition to Di POLDO, the two founders have also established a brand for luxury espadrilles – POLDOBAY. Have a closer look at the brand’s history, its value proposition, the product range and why you should enrich your wardrobe with Di POLDO garments and POLDOBAY espadrilles!

The history of Di POLDO

Di POLDO is an Italian brand founded in 2014 by two Milanese brothers, Luca and Marcello Leopoldo Bernardi. The brothers’ mission was to offer knitwear of uncompromised quality but with a good value for money. They wanted to create products which are neither too classic nor fashion and which would consider the typical Milanese taste.

Therefore, Luca and Marcello started traveling around Italy to find and to connect with the best craftsmen, who also shared their passion. They have started collaborations with Italy’s most important spinners and hence they have established their own business “Di POLDO”.

Di POLDO’s value proposition

Di POLDO focuses on one particular kind of knitwear. It is characterized by jacquard techniques, honeycomb or vanisé stitches, all enriched by suede details. This is one of the unique characteristics that distinguishes the brand. We could also say that this is Di POLDO’s signature. Another interesting feature is the continuous research for innovative precious yarns. For example, they have introduced a truly sustainable collection based on “SYSTEMA NATURAE” last winter: It was made of Cariaggi’s yarn which is cashmere and which was dyed by an infusion of herbs, berries and roots. No chemical substances were used in the process. Everything was made according to ancient herbal recipes by fully respecting the environment.

Another strong point of Di POLDO is also the huge color palette which they offer. Since the beginning, Di POLDO was always focusing on colors. Hence today, the company is able to offer more than 150 cashmere colors for each sweater. It will therefore be very difficult for you, to find an identical sweater in the different stores.

Furthermore, high quality is an identifier for Di POLDO. In recent years, the customers have again been increasingly interested in quality. Especially in menswear, clients are looking for products which will last over time. Currently, there is a lot of brands on the market which include cashmere knitwear in their collections with very different prices and levels of quality. Hence, it is not always easy for the customers to distinguish the high-quality offering and to evaluate the quality appropriately. Di POLDO tries to sensitize its customers in terms of quality. Therefore, the brand is only using the best raw materials and producing everything entirely in Italy.

Di POLDO’s high-quality cashmere

There are various types of cashmere all over the world which differentiate themselves regarding properties, quality and therefore price.

The quality of cashmere is defined by various factors: its place of origin, the length, the fineness and the color of its fiber. The best cashmere comes from the uplands of China and Mongolia. In these regions, the temperature variation between day and night is pretty high. This leads to a better insulating power of the goats compared to other regions. Furthermore, the fibers of those animals are very white, long and also fine. This is the reason, why very good cashmere can also be perfectly worn in the summer. You will find this best quality Cashmere throughout Di POLDO’s product range.

Di POLDO’s goals and sales channels

In a competitive market, the customer’s loyalty is a major point. It is also important for a brand to differentiate itself from others, not only regarding quality but also in terms of the service offering. Therefore, the possibility of Made-to-Order knitwear is an interesting challenge and opportunity on which Di POLDO wants to focus.

In the winter season of 2019, Di POLDO introduced both the raw materials that it uses as well as the manufacturing process directly to its customers. The company has organized various trunk shows at its retailers in Europe, where the customers could customize the fitting and the style.

You can find Di POLDO in their online shop and in selected multibrand boutiques across Europe. In Germany it is possible to find Di POLDO sweaters amongst others at Michael Jondral in Hannover, Herrenausstatter Kirsch in Hamburg, Diehl und Diehl in Frankfurt, Robert Ley in Bonn, Kleegraefe & Strothmann in Gütersloh, Klameyer in Essen, Jourdan in Wiesbaden.

POLDOBAY – brand of luxury espadrilles

In addition to Di POLDO, Marcello and Luca also founded POLDOBAY in 2017, which is a brand of luxury espadrilles. POLDOBAY was born almost as a joke and it is a pretty interesting story.

In spring 2017, during a roadtrip vacation in Spain, the two brothers arrived at La Roja. This is a region where the art of espadrilles has been handed down from generation to generation over centuries. Till today, lots of artisans work with the same passion as in the past, and many women still sew espadrilles in their homes by hand. Luca and Marcello immediately fell in love with this place, where time seemed to stand still. They asked an artisan to make a special type of espadrilles for them. It had to be similar to a mocassin and should also be worn with long trousers in the summer evenings.

A few months later, during a summer campaign sale of Di POLDO in their Milan showroom, Luca and Marcello were wearing their very comfortale mocassin espadrilles. Their retailers started to ask them about those shoes and also wanted to order them. Due to such unexpected interest, Luca and Marcello went back to La Roja to meet with the artisans. They agreed on the production of such espadrilles by providing the best linen fabrics.

Today POLDOBAY has various models of espadrilles. The product range includes boat espadrilles, derbies in linen or suede, slip-ons and of course also the mocassins. You can find POLDOBAY in their online shop and at some of the most important Italian multibrand stores, located in exclusive tourist areas such as Alassio, Portofino, Porto Cervo.

Dear Luca, thank you very much again for all those interesting and exciting insights into your high-quality artisanal knitwear and espadrilles! 😊

Picture courtesy: Di POLDO & POLDOBAY