Umberto and Laura Drago started as spinners at Lessona in the Biella hills in 1973, which by local standards makes Drago almost brand new. Their children Paolo and Daniela took it on about twenty years later and turned it into a fully integrated mill that now weaves more than 1.7 million metres a year, most of it exported to Japan, Korea and the United States. Drago is where we go when a customer wants the soft Italian jacket: light in the hand, fluid on the shoulder, and finished so the cloth falls rather than stands. They run counts from Super 130s to the rare Super 210s, and we have opinions about which end of that you should be buying.
Founded 1973, and integrated from yarn to finish
Everything at Drago began with a spinning company set up by the Drago family in 1973 at Lessona, in the middle of the Biella textile district. Spinning first, weaving later, which is the opposite order to most mills and is part of why their yarns are as interesting as their cloth.
The second generation, Paolo and Daniela, took over about two decades in and pushed the business into fabric properly. Drago acquired Lanificio Fintes in 1993 and folded it formally into the group in 2001, which is when they became a fully integrated weaver and an international distributor in their own right.
Today the operation runs across Lessona and Verrone, with raw material selection, spinning, weaving and finishing all handled in-house. That integration is the practical reason the cloth is so consistent: the mill that chose the fleece is the same mill that decides how the finished piece feels in your hand.
Super 130s to Super 210s, and what the number actually buys you
The Super number describes the fineness of the fibre the cloth is spun from. Higher means finer, softer, more fluid, and more expensive. Drago run from Super 130s at the practical end all the way to Super 210s, which very few mills anywhere will attempt.
Here is the part nobody tells you at the counter. Past roughly Super 150s the cloth gets delicate. It feels wonderful, it drapes beautifully, and it will not thank you for a laptop bag over the shoulder, a car seatbelt across the chest five days a week, or a Chennai monsoon afternoon. Fineness and toughness pull in opposite directions and no finishing process fixes that.
So we use the range deliberately. Super 130s and 150s for a suit you will actually wear to work. The higher counts for the wedding, the reception, the occasion where the suit is doing some of the talking. Drago also blend Mongolian white cashmere, silk and linen, and spin fancy yarns like organzines, bouclines and moulinés, which is where their more textured jacketing comes from.
The soft jacket, and why it works in this heat
Drago cloth is made for contemporary soft tailoring, which suits Chennai better than the structured British approach does. A jacket with a light canvas, minimal shoulder padding and a soft Drago worsted over it is about the most wearable formal garment you can own in this city. It moves with you, it sits lightly, and it does not fight the humidity the way a heavily built jacket does.
Their fabric is also a favourite for ceremonial clothing, which in an Indian context covers a lot of ground. A Drago cloth in a deep colour with a bit of fancy yarn in it makes an excellent reception jacket or bandhgala, because the surface has interest without needing a loud pattern to carry it.
If you have only ever worn a stiff, structured suit and found it unbearable here, ask us to cut you something soft in a light Drago. Most people who try it do not go back.
When we open the Drago bunches
Drago comes out when the brief is comfort and drape rather than authority. A customer who wants a jacket he can wear for twelve hours, or a suit that photographs soft rather than sharp, is a Drago customer.
We will steer you on count. If you tell us the suit is for daily wear and then point at a Super 190s, we will say what we think, and we will put a Super 130s next to it so you can decide with your hands instead of taking our word for it.
Drago cloth is available to order through us across their suiting and jacketing ranges. Hold one against a firmer British worsted at the counter and the two philosophies separate themselves in about ten seconds.