That of weaving is such an ancient art that it cannot indicate a precise starting period. The first weaves were warped with vegetable herbs, initially to obtain ropes, then baskets and fishing nets and only later to weave garments, cloaks and blankets.
Puglia is a region rich in artistic craftsmanship and in particular the Salento area has been a reference point for the production of embroidery and fabrics.
The wool and raw cotton rugs of Maglie and Surano are famous, where a typical technique called "Lecce bow" is used, a particular weave that allows to obtain a surface with a curled appearance typical of the famous rugs.
Traditionally, the weaving and embroidery activity was the responsibility of women who knew how to use the wooden looms of the time with great dexterity, making clothes and linen of the highest quality.
In Maglie, the school of embroidery was so famous that a particular embroidery technique was called “Punto Maglie”.
In some cases, the art of embroidery was a precious knowledge that was jealously guarded to be handed down only from mother to daughter.
In 1783, the historic Cordella Tailoring was born in Copertino with the aim of passing on its cutting and packaging methods to anyone wishing to take up the profession of tailor and stylist.
In the second half of the 19th century, the tailors leave the Copertino headquarters to open an atelier in Lecce. Success is immediate.
Today the family tradition continues with Pino Cordella, tailor and stylist who is responsible for the idea of collecting a very rich material scattered all over the world, among the Argentine and French Chilean ateliers, almost as if to gather the footprints left by his family.
Clothes and tailoring equipment are now collected together with a series of tailoring art tools, irons, shears, proto-industrial machines, paper patterns, fans and 19th century Italian and French fashion magazines.
In Lecce, the "Cosimo Cordella Study Center" is a real laboratory that, starting from the enhancement of historical memory, develops the art of tailoring among young people, while cultivating a passion for collecting while waiting to entrust that museum to the city today. collected in crates and in the small rooms of the atelier. A museum which, despite the difficulties of conservation, is a constant destination for scholars, researchers and undergraduates in search of documentation that would otherwise be impossible to find.
