Zanellato is an Italian handbag and leather goods brand, a symbol of creativity and of the finest leather craftsmanship.
Its story begins with a woman: Blandina Ermenegilda Bergantin Zanellato, born in 1909, who, after the war, opened the trattoria “Dalla Blandina”in Pila, in the Po Delta, a welcoming haven for hunters, fishermen, and figures from the
worlds of film and art.
After the 1956 flood, the family started fresh in Vicenza. With a rudimentary cutting press and a sewing machine for leather, glove production took shape:
in 1976 came Guanti Zanellato, a family venture that turned offcuts of fine skins from shearling jackets into new products. With 30 employees, the company joined the Arzignano tanning district.
In 1999, the leadership passed to Franco Zanellato, who extended the range to men’s leather goods, with work bags and briefcases. In 2011, he created Postina®: soft and sinuous, inspired by the postman’s bag of the early twentieth century, with a slightly angled handle for ergonomic comfort and a gold-plated stud bearing a philatelic engraving. Stitched in the Vicenza district, it has sold more than 500,000 pieces, in over 4,600 combinations of sizes, leathers and colours. On the closure sits a small Napoleonic hat engraved with waves, which in French are called “blandines”, just like the grandmother.
With Dotta®, A’ Spasso® and Mondà®, the brand gives shape to an artisanal intelligence that reinterprets Italian objects and crafts as design archetypes. Arte e Mestieri is Zanellato’s DNA: in an age of ever faster trends, Zanellato brings together beauty, quality and durability in bags designed to be handed down from generation to generation. A family business and the custodian of an outstanding corporate heritage, in 2026 it was recognised as a Marchio Storico di Interesse Nazionale (Historic Brand of National Interest).
ABOUT FRANCO ZANELLATO
Franco Zanellato, CEO and creative director of Zanellato, was born in Vicenza on 15 May 1969, into a family from the Po Delta. His grandmother Blandina, energetic and radiant, who welcomed hunters, fishermen and film personalities to her trattoria in Pila, remains his first source of inspiration.
He grew up in the glove workshop his family founded in 1976 in the Arzignano tanning district, where nappa leather's softness won him over as a child. As a teenager, he spent his summers in the tanneries of Alicante, among chemists and tanners, with one clear wish: to create a leather that was truly his own. In 1995 he sensed the need to broaden the range from gloves to caps, from women’s bags to men’s belts; in 1999 he took the helm of the company and turned his focus to men’s leather goods, patenting a universal handle.
Known as an “alchemist of leather”, he experiments tirelessly: together with a tannery he revived talc tanning, an ancient technique of Tuscan tanners, and invented Wash It, a machine-washable leather, which he presented at Pitti by bringing a washing machine to the fair. He often selects the hides in person: he studies every surface, reads its marks and grain, checks its origin, and rejects without hesitation anything that falls short of his standards. For him, leather must be experienced with all five senses: this is why Zanellato leathers carry a scent that recalls grandmother Blandina’s wardrobe, with notes of Marseille soap, talc and sandalwood.
In 2011, Postina® arrived, a reinterpretation of the postman’s bag that became a timeless icon, with more than 500,000 pieces sold. Dotta®, A’ Spasso® and Mondà® followed, the fruit of an artisanal intelligence that reinterprets Italian objects and crafts. For him, “it can’t be done” is the spark behind every change. He champions a craft culture where beauty and know-how meet: in a world of fast-moving trends, his creations bridge past and future, designed to endure and stand the test of time.