After three difficult years due to Covid, The Milan Track Show is back in style, recording truly impressive numbers. With it, the Fuorisalone also returned, bringing the Lombardy capital to life for a whole week with a wealth of initiatives. Among these, this one certainly deserves a mention, especially because it touches us so closely: a beautiful display of historic cycling jerseys made by Santini.
In the living room of Milan
The jersey exhibition opened on April 21st and will continue until May 21st. The location chosen is truly prestigious. This is L'Eroica Caffé on Viale Tunisia, in the Porta Venezia area of Milan.The relationship between L'Eroica, the world-renowned cycling event, and Santini has been consolidated over the years. The Bergamo-based company has been a sponsor of L'Eroica since 2015.
The opening evening was organized by the L'Eroica staff themselves, who brought together, for the occasion, not only Santini but also Colnago, another sponsor of the event, which was founded in 1997 in Gaiole in Chianti, near Siena, and is now successfully exported throughout the world.
From Tapie to Bugno
Until May 15th, customers at the Eroica Caffè in Milan will be able to admire some of the Santini jerseys that have made cycling history on display on the walls of the café. Among these we remember that of La Vie Claire, the French team led by patron Bernard Tapie, the black and white checkered Peugeot jersey, of the first team sponsored by Santini, and Gianni Bugno's world champion jersey. All these jerseys tell the story of Santini Since 1965, it has been manufacturing apparel for cycling's greatest champions and beyond. Numerous amateur teams turn to the Bergamo-based company every year to create their uniforms. From this year Santini is also present among the Under 23s “dressing” Colpack.
Among the jerseys on display are wool ones with hand-embroidered sponsor names, which tell the story of cycling from times gone by, when synthetic fabrics did not yet exist.
Speaking of handmade items, for the opening night, Santini set up a sewing corner inside Eroica Caffè, where Mrs. Rosita, an employee who has worked for the company for 35 years, sewed Eroica patches onto jerseys purchased by those in attendance during the evening.
To seal the importance that the company places on its roots, some postcards that are available in the Milanese store report the history of the shirts on display at Eroica Caffè in Milan.
We close with the thoughts of Paola Santini, Marketing Manager of Santini Cycling Wear: «We are a company that looks to the future by continuously investing in the evolution of new fabrics and innovative textile solutions, but we don't want to forget our origins and for this reason we believe it is right to valorize our past and the cycling pages that the riders have written wearing our jerseys."
