Lòrsica, the small,
scattered municipality of 400 inhabitants in the hinterland of the metropolitan
city of Genoa, from which it is about 40 kilometres away, has been known
throughout the world for centuries for the weaving of precious silk fabrics: in
particular damasks, but also lampasks, brocades, taffetas, shantung and
macramé.
Brightness,
perfection of the designs (the palm, the rose, the parsley in damasks or the
Napoleonic bee on a blue field, the striped Louis XVI style and the love knots
in lampasks), solidity and compactness of the fabric are the most prized
qualities that enriched the clothing and homes of the Genoese nobility and all
the European courts from the 16th and 17th centuries onwards.
The 'Figli diDemartini Giuseppe' manufactory boasts over 300 exclusive designs that the
family has been handing down since 1500, one of the few remaining in the
country to devote itself to this precious form of craftsmanship.