The Origins (1597 – 1759)
The Tronconi family’s tradition as textile bleachers and dyers has ancient origins. The first settlement along the banks of the Olona River, in Bergoro di Fagnano, dates back to 1597, with Giovanni Pietro Tronconi.
This marked the beginning of a long period of field bleaching and, starting in 1760, dyeing with vegetable substances. The nearby Olona River provided both the raw material and the mechanical movement of the reels through a large water wheel.
The Industrial Revolution (1760 – 1899)
The first steam boiler to be converted into motion was installed in 1860. This date placed the company at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in Italy. With the discovery of artificial dyes at the end of the 19th century, the Tronconi family confirmed their propensity for innovation. In fact, the first foulard presses for dyeing with aniline-based dyes were installed.
In the second half of the 1800s, the management of the company passed from Gaspare Abele Tronconi to his son Attilio Paolo, and then, around 1915, to Attilio’s son, Gaspare Felice. The latter, father of Attilio and Gianluca, completed his training in chemistry and dyeing in Germany, then the cradle of Europe. His drive profoundly and consistently characterized the management of the company in an innovative way.
dipinto-generazione-tronconi
Gaspare Abele – 1825
AttilioP
Attilio Paolo – 1853
gaspare-tronconi-generazione
Gaspare Felice – 1895
AttilioTronconi
Attilio – 1938
MicheleTronconi
Michele – 1962
GiuseppeT
Giuseppe – 1974
A New Century (1900 – 1959)
It was through Gaspare Felice‘s work that in 1937 the company name ‘Gaspare Tronconi’ was registered with the Varese Chamber of Commerce. This name had already been in use since the previous century by his grandfather Gaspare Abele, but it was combined with the name of his cousin Felice and with factories in both Bergoro di Fagnano Olona and Briosco, Brianza.
In the 1920s the Bergoro factory, developed the production of velvets, the image of which became inextricably linked to the company. Along with velvets we find moleskins and satins, which are the company’s oldest traditional items. While a few years later the first moleskin presses are also installed. 1952 saw the installation of the third printing press, suitable for the use of naphthol dyes.
In this same period, again under Gaspare Tronconi’s impetus, the expansion of production capacity allows for an equal broadening of the range of processing to all the cloths, poplin and gabardines that will become the most processed weaves from the 1990s to the present.
The Era of Renewal (1960 – Today)
The 1970s, until 2015, were the years in which the decisive entrepreneurial figure was Attilio Tronconi, first joined by his brother Gianluca and then, increasingly, by three of his six sons, Michele, Emilio and Beppe.
Just as Attilio emphasized the propulsive role of his father Gaspare, so do his sons with him today.
It was Attilio, in fact, who promoted the culture of sustainability by investing heavily, at the plant level, in wastewater treatment. He was also responsible for the main optimizations of production cycles from the aspect of energy conservation. Then, together with his sons, he initiated the automation of product kitchens and dyes to reduce waste, improve process repeatability and limit manual handling of chemicals.
Attilio was the real bulwark against the flooding of the Olona River, which repeated twice in the 1970s, then twice in the 1990s. Not that he was able to hold back the disruptive waters, but he managed to do so in the face of discouragement, setting the continuing example of one who would not give up. As he himself emphasized, strength came from family unity and first and foremost from the support of his wife Maria Pia. The perseverance was contagious and led, after forty years of insistence, to the construction of those rolling boxes in the Gurone locality that today regulate the flow of the Olona River.
The company continues to grow and evolve. In 2006, Beppetex, the commercial subsidiary, was created with the purpose of bringing our products and know-how all around the world.