It was the immediate post-war period, and Italy strongly felt the need to start again. Prato, already then and still today the most important textile production center in Europe, was a city in full ferment: dozens of new factories were opening their doors, and orders for fabrics were arriving from all over the world. It is in this context of enthusiasm and rebirth that Alvaro’s dream begins to take shape.

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With only a few lire in his pocket, but driven by great determination and an entrepreneurial spirit, Alvaro rents a deconsecrated 13th-century church in the city center, frescoed by a pupil of Giotto, and transforms it into a wholesale fabric warehouse. Perhaps thanks to his skills, or perhaps due to a benevolent “divine help,” business soon begins to take off….

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In 1955, his sons joined their father in the business: Mario, a recent law graduate, and later Roberto, a textile technician. After years devoted to expanding the commercial network, with long sales trips throughout Italy, in 1974 Mario and Roberto took over the leadership of the company, which took the name Fratelli Conforti.

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They were years of great change: demand for a fabric destined to revolutionize the way people dress—denim—was growing exponentially. The brothers thus began importing hundreds of thousands of meters of it from South America, moving their operations from the evocative church to a more modern and functional warehouse.

In the 1980s, the third generation joined the company: Laura, Mario’s daughter, and Francesco and Giovanni, Roberto’s sons. Thanks to their education and knowledge of foreign languages, the business expanded on an international scale, reaching new global markets.

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Since January 2012, Francesco and Giovanni Conforti have been the new owners of Fratelli Conforti, founded in 1948 and based in Montemurlo, just outside Prato. Every day, from the 2,350 square meters of the new warehouse, thousands of meters of fabric come in and out, and—thanks to efficient logistics, expanded showroom spaces, and the professionalism of the staff—set off to dress the world.

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In 2026, Fratelli Conforti—by now a well-established company with nearly 80 years of experience in the sector—embarked on an important generational renewal process. Choosing to look to the future with responsibility and foresight, the company opened its ownership structure to Gherardo Collini, a professional already experienced in the field of raw materials and long connected to the family through a relationship of esteem and friendship.

The entry of Gherardo Collini as a partner and the creation of the new Fratelli Conforti & Co represent a significant step aimed at ensuring continuity, growth, and renewed entrepreneurial energy.