THEHumphrey Bogart’s Borsalino in Casablanca and that of Federico Fellini. The wide-brimmed red hat of Pope John XXIII and the white one of Benedict XVI. The Swarovski top hat and the blue bowler hat of the PanAm Air hostesses… The Borsalino Museum is worth a visit, in Alexandria. He has a story that pulls together three centuries, the great cinema and the Vatican, fashion and the artisan tradition.
The Borsalino Museum in Alessandria
166 years after the birth of the famous hat brand, the museum is housed right in the Borsalino Palace, for almost a hundred years entrance of the manufacture. It is located in the center of the Piedmontese city which also boasts the most ancient shop, in an exquisite Liberty style, on via Roma.
A project by the Borsalino Foundation in partnership with the Municipality to remember and relaunch the brand proudly back to life after difficult years (bankruptcy in 2017, then recovery thanks to the Swiss-Italian investment fund Haeres Equita).
The Pan Am Air bowler hat, in the Borsalino Museum
From Borsalino to Panama, to designer hats
The hat collection, donated in 1994 by Giovanna Usuelli Borsalino to the City of Alessandria, has been enriched by around 200 new acquisitions that the Borsalino Foundation has made available to the museum to increase its appeal. Eight narrative paths kept in the eight monumental showcases designed by Arnaldo Gardella: Twenty hats that changed the world, Traveling with Borsalino, The legendary Panama hats, Borsalino and the women, The hat that bewitched the cinema, Divine hats, Borsalino for… and Borsalino & other stories.
A classic model exhibited at the Borsalino Museum
Borsalino, video installations and curiosities
The video installations complete the museum itinerary Borsalino and cinema: a long love story, Treasures of paper: the advertising posters of the Borsalino collection And At the origin of the Panama Borsalino. And, in the Borsalino Museum App, anecdotes, images and videos.
Some headpieces with Swarovski crystals
info:
Borsalino Museumcorso Cento Cannoni 21, Alessandria
Hours: from 10.00 to 19.00 (last admission at 17.30), from Thursday to Sunday
Rates: full 12 euros, reduced 10 euros
Information and reservations: www.borsalinomuseum.com
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