Weaving Innovation with Tradition.
MANFILM – A Family Story Across Kenya, England, Hong Kong, and Italy
The story of Manfilm begins well before its official foundation in 1986. It is a family story that spans continents and generations, bringing together Eastern textile tradition and Italian craftsmanship.
It all started with my grandfather, George Wright-Nooth, who was born in Kenya into a family tied to colonial England. After attending military academy in England, he moved to Hong Kong in the 1940s, where he served the Empire as a general in the Queen’s armed forces.
This bond with the East planted the first seeds of what would later become our passion for silk.
My father, Giuseppe Piovesan, born in Veneto in 1938, married my mother Deborah—a model and designer, and daughter of George Wright-Nooth—thus uniting two worlds: the elegance of Eastern silk and the artisanal tradition of Italy. Fittingly, their story began in the homeland of Marco Polo, the famous traveler of the Silk Road.
The story of Manfilm begins well before its official foundation in 1986. It is a family story that spans continents and generations, bringing together Eastern textile tradition and Italian craftsmanship.
It all started with my grandfather, George Wright-Nooth, who was born in Kenya into a family tied to colonial England. After attending military academy in England, he moved to Hong Kong in the 1940s, where he served the Empire as a general in the Queen’s armed forces. This bond with the East planted the first seeds of what would later become our passion for silk.
My father, Giuseppe Piovesan, born in Veneto in 1938, married my mother Deborah—a model and designer, and daughter of George Wright-Nooth—thus uniting two worlds: the elegance of Eastern silk and the artisanal tradition of Italy. Fittingly, their story began in the homeland of Marco Polo, the famous traveler of the Silk Road.
