AS THE TURN OF THE CENTURY APPROACHED,
GENNARO SFERRA LEFT ITALY TO VISIT THE
U.S., IN HOPES OF ATTRACTING A MARKET
FOR HIS INTRICATE VENETIAN LACE
CUFFS AND COLLARS.
He found his ideal clientele in the grand seaside resorts that once dotted the East Coast from Maine to Palm Beach, and he traveled regularly to sell his goods.
In 1905, he opened Factory 5007 San Severo, located in the shadow of the Rialto Bridge in Venice. And in 1912, Gennaro moved his company and his family to a shop on Fifth Avenue in New York.
A generation later, Gennaro’s two sons, Enrico and Albert, expanded their father’s collection to include the most luxurious European linens of the day—from renowned double damask from Ireland to Alençon laces from France to beautiful embroideries from Belgium and Switzerland.
SFERRA changed hands in 1977. With keen business savvy, Paul Hooker purchased the company from the Sferra family. Under Paul’s passionate stewardship and with the aid of great advancements in design and production technologies, SFERRA has experienced explosive growth in recent decades as global markets have emerged, and has secured its rightful position as a leader in the luxury linens industry. The secret of SFERRA’s enduring reputation is consistently prominent today—only the finest materials are used in anything that carries the SFERRA name.