Neri Firenze | Exclusive Handcrafted Cashmere & Leather from Florence - Timeless for Men & Women

Neri Firenze is a cashmere and leather brand founded in Florence in 2005 by German designer Raphaela Schilling, dedicated to "Made in Italy" or "Made in Florence." All items are handcrafted in Florence, including men's and women's cashmere sweaters, cashmere coats, jackets, leather gloves, leather bags, and leather shoes.

Like most female designers (such as Gabriela Hearst, Doen, Armarium, Maria McManus, Prune Goldschmidt that I've written about before), Raphaela Schilling founded this quality-focused practical brand after becoming a mother. The brand name "Neri" comes from her son's name, while "Firenze" is the Italian name for Florence.

Neri Firenze promoted itself through Twitter between 2016-2017 but subsequently stopped updating. In 2023 and 2024, the brand reappeared in some niche boutiques. I learned about Neri Firenze from an Italian boutique's brand introduction and found its craftsmanship and products quite impressive, hence writing this sharing. Currently, it has low visibility in China and no direct purchasing channels. If you have the opportunity to visit Florence, it's worth checking out Neri Firenze's cashmere sweaters, leather goods, and nearby Malo.

Neri Firenze emphasizes handcrafting, adhering to traditional machinery and crafting techniques to create high-quality items. Each product is given a unique personality through handcrafting and traditional techniques, though the handcrafting might mean the workmanship is not as refined and has some roughness.

We utilize only the finest materials sourced from local suppliers, and our team of skilled artisans, who have inherited their skills and techniques from their ancestors, use traditional methods and machines to produce our products.

As a niche brand focusing on handcrafting, Neri Firenze's overall production is small. Even the seasonal lookbooks feature only one or two sets of works.

Below is the Spring/Summer 2025 collection with only 4 images. The brand has begun experimenting with cotton and linen fabrics, though the official website still only features cashmere and leather products. From these images, it's evident that Neri Firenze's cuts are relatively ordinary. Therefore, I recommend focusing on their cashmere knitwear and hand-cut and sewn vegetable-dyed leather bags and gloves.

Since the brand itself is divided into cashmere and leather, I'll introduce them in these two categories.

Cashmere

Neri Firenze's most representative cashmere item is this thick 3-gauge pearl stitch cashmere sweater.

Men's clothing also includes two representative pearl stitch cashmere sweaters. This texture is somewhat similar to old-style Chinese cashmere sweaters - a bit rough but more durable and wearable.

The double-faced thickened jacket on the left for men and the handwoven thick scarf on the right are both excellent, looking substantial.

Gauge refers to the number of yarn threads per inch; fewer threads mean thicker yarn, more threads mean thinner and lighter yarn. Above are 3-gauge items, below are lightweight 18-gauge cashmere sweaters with some design styles that fit the current lazy aesthetic favored by young people.

The double-faced cashmere coat series is 100% cashmere, with handcrafted seam treatments.

Overall, the cuts of men's and women's coats are ordinary. Neri Firenze's coat and suit designs, like Lanificio Colombo, have unsmooth lines and pleats, appearing bulky.

Leather

Among all leather goods, Neri Firenze has the most variety in leather gloves, which are frequently stocked by boutiques. The leather gloves have leather on the outside and cashmere lining, perfectly aligning with the brand's positioning. There are few leather gloves with cashmere lining available in the market.

This is the second Italian brand's leather gloves I've seen (after Armarium, whose only accessory is leather gloves).

Minimalist brands from New York, Antwerp, and Sweden typically don't offer this accessory. Brands that emphasize leather quality, like Armarium, usually produce leather gloves. When writing about Armarium, I overlooked their signature gloves, thinking there wasn't much to write about gloves. Later, after seeing the styling of Hermès from the Martin Margiela era and now Neri Firenze's representative gloves, I realized leather gloves can be quite valuable.

Currently, there are only women's leather shoes.

There are several leather bags shown below. The rough craftsmanship is visible because they are all hand-cut and sewn, and these leathers are all vegetable-dyed.

Due to Raphaela Schilling's German background, Neri Firenze has also designed a small leather case for nail clipper sets.

Epilogue

Neri Firenze is a niche brand that adheres to Italian local production and places great emphasis on artisanship. Without excessive markup, it offers good value for money. Since its establishment in 2005, it has maintained support from its customer circle.

In the Italian fashion industry, there are both powerful capital and century-old factories. For emerging small brands like this to find their place in the market, they must have unique persistence and distinctive characteristics.

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