Sisters Tortelli knitwear – Giusto Pinzani

The sports knitwear Sisters Tortelli & c. has been a reference point for Florentine sports knitwear for decades.

The Tortelli Sisters began sewing shirts in Saint Bridget, their home country, in the early 1900s. After the First World War they moved to Florence, giving birth to knitwear in Via Gioberti No.15.

Their work is particularly appreciated and they specialize over the years in sportswear. Among the most famous sports clubs to collaborate with the Tortelli Sisters were;

Many cycling sports clubs such as the Oltrarno and the Pinzani training jersey;

1970s Oltrarno jersey (Photo by Andrea Dosio)

Ruini Florence jersey (From the World's History of Volleyball Facebook page to Florence, Scandicci and Sesto)

La Ruini Florence, a great volleyball team from Florence. The Sports Group was founded on September 17, 1962 on the initiative of the Florence Fire Department, and was named after Otello Ruini, an officer who died in 1958 from the aftermath of a fire. A few months after its founding, it absorbed Alce, a Florentine volleyball club, and was able to play in the national championship. In the years to come, Ruini, led by Aldo Bellagambi, became one of the leading volleyball teams in Italy, winning 5 Italian championships (1963-64, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1972–73) and reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup in '72. For more information you can read this interesting article;

Fiorentina for many decades, before the advent of the technical sponsor, had the wool jerseys produced by the Tortelli Sisters. Iconic jerseys of the second Purple Shield with black shorts

Fiorentina '79 jersey (From Facebook the shirts OF Sghibbe)

It was then the children who continued the activity until the disappearance of one of them, Roberto Cottini, in 1993 leading the other brother to close the business the following year.