FRANKLIN & MARSHALL
Franklin & Marshall was founded in 1999 on the intuition of 2 young entrepreneurs,
Giuseppe Albarelli and Andrea Pensiero, who since then have transformed their
ambitions, skills and ideals into a successful brand that is well known for its vintageinfluenced
design.
For Franklin & Marshall the word vintage (from the French phrase l’age du vin
meaning the vintage of a wine) refers to the continued search for clothing and
personalisation in order to express one’s identity.
The vintage T-shirt or sweatshirt becomes a memory of a moment in one’s life, an
item that improves with age, just like a fine wine.
Franklin & Marshall’s vintage collection was born from extensive research in legendary
places such as the recycled clothes market in Rosebowl, Pasadena, the second-hand
shops of Tokyo, on big city streets and by studying youth around the planet, because
it is a style based on curiosity, life experiences and imagination.
The symbol of this unique and ever-innovative spirit is an old 1970s sweatshirt from
Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania that Giuseppe and Andrea
found in a second-hand market in London.
For Andrea Pensiero and Giuseppe Albarelli, who were always fans of North American
culture, that sweatshirt was the inspiration for what would become a hugely
successful idea: to bring American college style to Italy.
From that one single garment, comfortable and full of history, the idea was born to
develop a simple and immediately recognizable youth clothing line.
The partners both come from commercially orientated backgrounds: Giuseppe studied
economics and management and sold bags produced from the same material as the
sails made in the family business; Andrea had worked as a designer for Fiorucci,
Classic Nouveau and Wrangler and was the owner of a couple of shops in Verona
selling vintage clothes and accessories. An almost casual meeting and the discovery
of a common passion for North American culture led to the creation of a label which
brought college style to Italy and Europe for the first time. The new company
provided the framework for the development of compelling styles within a completely
new casual environment.
The Veronese company owes its success partly to its ongoing dedication to quality and
originality. This dedication has won them the recognition of national newspaper
Sole24 Ore, Ernst and Young International and the prestigious Bocconi Business
School in Milan, when they were awarded a first prize in their jointly sponsored Young
Entrepreneur of the Year award in the business to consumer category.
The choice of brand name was particularly significant, Franklin & Marshall being the
name of the one of the oldest established colleges in the US, founded in Pennsylvania
in 1787. F&M’s goal right from the start was to re-launch American College Style and
become a cult name amongst those who look to the recent past for their icons, who
are inspired by the same values such as liberty, respect for your fellow man and care
of the environment around us.
From the choice of name to the choice of staff, from the headquarters to the
collections themselves, the operation is based on a solid ethical foundation. Business
decisions, whether they are about product design, distribution or marketing, are
guided by the founding principles of respect, morality and sense belonging. F&M’s
workers are young, dynamic and come from a variety of international backgrounds
and the company headquarters, a specially renovated early 19th century factory
which maintains intact original architectural features, is immersed in the greenery of
the hills above Verona.
