Pattern opens new headquarters in Turin

Pattern is marking its 25th anniversary with a new headquarters on the outskirts of Turin.

“We are the engineers of fashion,” said CEO Luca Sburlati, during the inauguration of the building in Collegno, spanning 5,000 square metres of production and office space.

The €15 million investment was funded through the sale of Pattern’s former factory, also located in Collegno, the majority of which was sold to Burberry.

Since late August, 130 people have been working at the new facility, combining craft expertise with cutting-edge technology. Headcount is already set to rise, with 30 new hires on the way who will be employed in the remaining portion of the former plant, which will be dedicated to ultra high-end production. “The Ferraris of apparel,” Sburlati pointed out.

“We were a micro-SME a few years ago with a few million in turnover. With courageous choices, we became a large company without taking on debt. We have to defend Made in Italy, which is under attack, with our example of Italian artisanal excellence. We are investing in skills. In the coming years, no humanoid robot will be able to sew a garment,” said Pattern’s CEO.

Today, the Turin-based company is targeting €140 million in turnover with its strategic plan through 2028, which also includes entering new product categories. Analysts forecast 2025 to end at €110 million in turnover with a positive EBITDA.

Pattern—English for the Italian cartamodello (pattern)—was founded by pattern makers Franco Martorella and Fulvio Botto, formerly of Gruppo Finanziario Tessile (GFT), with long careers alongside major designers such as Valentino, Armani, Versace, Calvin Klein and Alexander McQueen.

Pattern’s rise—listed in Milan since 2019—recalls a Savoy-style ‘campaign of annexation’.

“We were about 40 people in 2011. Then we invested in other companies, from knitwear in Emilia to leather goods, to Roscini’s pattern-making, and again in luxury knitwear in Umbria. Through to the tech hub in Abruzzo and Puglia. Small is no longer so beautiful,” noted Sburlati, who has led the company since 2012.

The new HQ is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the engineering of fashion.

“Alongside traditional paper patterns, we use 3D CAD and augmented reality. Brands bring us a design that we turn into both a virtual and a physical prototype. The brief also includes fit and the associated fabric. The pattern then goes to the tailoring department, which sews the garment that, after adjustments, will become a sample or a runway look. The average lead time is one week,” Sburlati explained.

The building is completely green, powered by heat exchange with the groundwater below and by a conventional photovoltaic system. Even the construction materials are reused.

“We aim to achieve LEED Gold. There are only a few dozen companies with this certification nationwide,” the CEO noted.

The group employs 800 people across its partner companies, rising to about 2,000 including the wider supply chain. Also in the pipeline is a new 1,000-square-metre garment factory in Puglia with around 100 planned hires.

Elena Lorenzini, deputy chief of staff to the minister for made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, was also present at the factory opening.

“It is companies like Pattern that represent the values of Made in Italy around the world. The ministry supports the fashion sector by sending a clear political signal of attention and support. I will invite Pattern’s founders to Rome to work together on new regulations for the future of the sector,” said Urso.