Once upon a time

theFamily

Laura Marelli is the latest heir to the historic Gallia e Peter millinery shop, the result of a family tradition, now in its fourth generation, that has been passed down matriarchally from the 19th century to the present: from Angela Paschero to Maria Gallia, from Lia Giacomini down to Laura Marelli.

in the photo Angela Paschero with her daughters in Nice, 1924

Angela Paschero (Lalla)

An absolute love for beautiful and well-made women's hats and hairstyles. This is the first germ of Gallia e Peter. It all stems from her great-grandmother from Piedmont, Angela Paschero married Gallia, simply Lalla to family members and those who love her. Passionate about photography, Lalla loves to be portrayed with her husband Filippo Gallia and two daughters Maria and Giulia in fashionable clothes, on city streets but also traveling the world.

An elegant and enterprising woman, in the late 19th century she started a millinery and hat shop in Turin and in the early 20th century opened one in Piazza Castello. By 1916 the sign read "Patent of the Royal House," but as early as 1912 Lalla was already a supplier of livery hats for the staff of the Royal House-a particularly important honor, especially for a woman of the time. Then the atelier moved and, until the 1930s, Lalla ran the "Mode Gallia" millinery shop in Piazza Carignano with her daughter Giulia.

In the photo Angela Paschero with her daughter and husband in Turin, 1924

Mariuccia Gallia

From the love match between Angela Paschero's eldest daughter, Mariuccia Gallia, and Attanasio Giacomini, son of historic Milanese milliner Giovanna Cornelia Peter, Gallia e Peter was born in the 1930s in Milan.

A story of quality and excellence that combines Cornelia Peter's pronounced business skills (who with the Milanese "Senibus and Peter mode" counts on a family tradition of millinery and hat making) with the refined vision of Turin-derived Mariuccia Gallia. We owe to Cornelia Peter, an eccentric woman with a strong personality (her choice to adopt, proudly and with a special notarial deed, the name Cornelia), the intuition to open in 1932 the first store in Via Montenapoleone. From the 1930s until 2010, Via Montenapoleone No. 3 will be the symbolic place of Gallia e Peter's millinery. Mariuccia Gallia is credited with transforming the family workshop into a sought-after fashionable atelier on the city's most elegant street, forever keeping the double surname as a memory of a double tradition.

Early 1920s, Angela Gallia with daughter Mariuccia

1953, Mariuccia Gallia

1945, Mariuccia Gallia with husband and children

1964, Mariuccia Gallia with grandchildren

1928, Attanasio Giacomini with daughter Lia

1955, Lia Giacomini on her wedding day

1956, Lia Giacomini with daughter Laura

Lia Giacomini

1960, Lia Giacomini with daughter Nicoletta

1980, Laura Marella

Cornelia Giacomini (Lia)

Assisted by her mother Angela and sister Giulia (who moved from Turin to Milan) and daughters Cornelia, known as Lia, and Franca, Mariuccia Gallia initiated collaborations with the leading fashion houses of the period, building a solid tradition of craftsmanship, made up of patient made-to-measure work and interwoven with culture, relationships and travel to the major fashion capitals. In 1952, on the occasion of the debut of Italian Fashion in the Sala Bianca of the Pitti Palace in Florence-an event that would forever mark the history of fashion-the hats made by Gallia e Peter paraded alongside the dresses of Jole Veneziani, Biki, Wanda Roveda, and Mila Schön.

Frequent visitors to Paris, Vienna and London, Mariuccia Gallia and her daughter Lia, who has been at the Atelier since 1944, are dedicated to the constant search for new trends in millinery to satisfy the most demanding clients of Milan's upper middle class and the international jet set.

Laura Marelli

The generational transition from Lia Giacomini to her daughter Laura Marelli from the 1980s to the present marks the beginning of a new phase in the fashion system in which the hat, losing centrality as an everyday object, acquires stage presence in fashion shows, in completing the look and in defining the style of different personalities.

In 2010, Laura Marelli decided to move the business to Via Moscova No. 60: under her direction, Atelier Gallia e Peter experimented with new models and new materials, collaborating with the main designers of the emerging Made in Italy: Walter Albini, Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Gianfranco Ferré, Franco Moschino and Romeo Gigli. Know-how and the weaving of lasting relationships remain the key to unique craftsmanship-a memory written in the hands of those who have been making hats for generations, today as yesterday.

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