“We are young and curious. We are dreamers and travellers; we are free and believe in what we do.” This is the vision of LEGAMI, an iconic Made in Italy brand of gadgets and hi-tech accessories.
LEGAMI, with the accent on the ‘a’, stems from a somewhat nostalgic idea of Alberto Fassi, born in 1970, who resigned after working for years as a consultant in an international company and enrolled in a master’s programme in creativity. As an end-of-course project, he presented a reinterpretation of a simple object, but one that can arouse emotions and memories: the belt for tying school books, much used in the 1970s and 1980s. The teachers also liked the idea, and Fassi decided to invest in it. This was the beginning of LEGAMI in 2003. At first, the company was based in Bergamo, in Fassi’s parents’ garage, and the first product launched was the book belt, available in different colours to symbolise the different types of bonds.
A garage, lots of travel and an itch to create
Initially, Fassi took care of everything himself, from the items’ design and production to shipping and administration. However, the company grew quickly, thanks to the diversification of its offer and distribution channels and by focusing on creativity and the ability of everyday objects to tell stories and represent emotions and feelings.
To find inspiration, Fassi has travelled extensively: Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and New York, each time letting himself be fueled by the energy and creativity that one breathes in these big cities. He has established collaborative relationships with designers, partners and suppliers and explores new ideas and solutions with them.
A fast-growing company
Today, the company has over two hundred employees – 70% are women, and the average age is 33 – and produces over four thousand articles in fifteen product categories. Every year, LEGAMI sells 10 million products and has fifty-four flagship stores and four hundred corners in more than seventy countries, with a turnover in 2023 of €77 million and a 60 per cent growth over the previous year. The company is also expanding abroad, particularly in Great Britain and the Middle East, by focusing on acquiring new brands and opening more flagship stores.
‘My products are born international; they do not need to be adapted because they convey emotions, and all human beings feel emotions,’ said Alberto Fassi about LEGAMI’s expansion abroad.
Looking to the future, protecting the environment
There is currently a lot of focus on sustainability: LEGAMI is, in fact, already a carbon-neutral company, totally zeroing its CO2 emissions thanks to two major international projects. The first involves planting and protecting an area in the Amazon rainforest; the second is the production of clean hydropower in India. But that’s not all: in Bergamo, where LEGAMI was founded, an urban park has been created, ‘LEGAMI Dreamland’, a three-hectare area with 2600 plants and shrubs, 40 native tree species and 250 square metres of wetland. A small wildlife sanctuary where nature will be left free to evolve, with minimal maintenance.
Finally, thanks to the photovoltaic system, the company headquarters is almost energy-independent, and all the energy purchased comes from renewable sources. A plan to review all materials and packaging used to reduce the environmental impact as much as possible is also currently being studied.
Congratulations to those who bring Made in Italy creativity to the world!
Learn about other outstanding Made in Italy companies from Lombardy.