Three generations in buttons production, as said by Mario Bonfanti
“This is the story of the Bonfanti family, which has proudly reached its third generation, “with the insane illusion and the modest certainty of having managed to build something” .
It was 1946 when Walter Bonfanti founded the company, in Via Baltea 20 in Turin. He involved all his brothers in the business and he started along with the best local craftsmen.
The first buttons produced by F.lli Bonfanti are designed and created in a small laboratory, the company started as a small entity where all buttons were developed for tailors, garment makers and retail shops.
From his founder, Walter Bonfanti, the company leadership goes to Mario Bonfanti that starts to export the Bonfanti buttons beyond the national borders.
This is the beginning of a long journey that starts from Torino to end in Japan, a new beginning that set up the current selling network of the company.
The capillary penetration in the French market is consolidated, absorbing the distributive forces of a famous local wholesaler. In the following years, the Swiss and US markets were reached.
Mario Bonfanti is joined by his brother Elio, who immediately devote himself to research new designs and materials for the creation of their collections. In these years the two different collections of fashion buttons were born: spring / summer and autumn / winter. F.lliBonfanti’s presence abroad is consolidated: about 50% of turnover is achieved thanks to export to France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Portugal, England, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, USA, Japan and the Middle East .
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In 1995 began an important transformation of the Italian and international business ground, with a huge decrease of fashion retail shops. The market change pushes the company to focus its target even more abroad, thus starting to participate in the most important trade fairs in the world. Strategic choice that leads the company to an increase in foreign turnover to 75%.
The third generation of the family joins F.lli Bonfanti: Chiara and Serena Bonfanti, daughters of Mario. The new female force, benefit from the same family passion for innovation and tradition, starts to digitize the button collections and to generate new approaches to address the customers’ needs. The first participations in the most important trade fair in China are added to the fairs in the United States.
The changes in the market, the planetary upheavals due to the pandemic have not affected the enthusiasm of a family that, for three generations, has believed in the production of buttons and high quality fashion accessories. Focused on the target, F.lli Bonfanti, together with all its agents and distributors, continues to believe in the charm included in each single Button Made in Italy.
Imagine a world always full of new colours, materials, shapes that is mirrored in buttons collections.
Each year there are two fashion collections: Summer/Spring and Autumn/Winter.
Approx 150 new styles each year that – along with the Permanent collection full of articles always in stock – represent the beauty and the essence of the Made in Italy in each single button.
