Museo del Tessile e della Tradizione Industriale di Busto Arsizio

The Museo del Tessile e della Tradizione Industriale (Textile and Industrial Tradition Museum) was established on 30 January 1997 with the aim of collecting, preserving and valorising objects, machines and documents related to textiles and other sectors of the Busto industrial tradition. The aims of the institution are: to disseminate the history of textile production, valorise the knowledge that has marked the territory, and promote cultural, educational and informative activities.
The museum is located in the building that housed the spinning department of one of the main local factories, the Cotonificio Carlo Ottolini, later Bustese, an important example of industrial archaeology. The spinning mill was probably built between 1891 and 1896. The structure shows a clear reference to the neo-Gothic style, widespread in Lombardy in those years, and takes the form of a brick castle, with ogival windows, anthropomorphic decorations, battlements and towers. After the 1970s, new requirements led to the relocation of activities to the Olona Valley. The Municipality of Busto Arsizio acquired the entire area and started the construction of the public park that still surrounds the former factory. The building then underwent careful restoration to turn it into a museum of industry, a place that symbolises the working tradition of the area.
Inside, it is possible to learn about all the stages of textile fibre processing, from spinning to the packaging of the finished product, with specific sections devoted to the Jacquard technique, printing and dyeing processes, new fibres, the 'captains' of the local textile industry and the schirpa (the dowry of the Upper Milanese woman). Part of the exhibition includes part of the Calzaturificio Borri historical archive, the Menotti Paracchi photographic studio and the Antonio Ferramini tailor's collection.