About Ballantyne
In March 2004, Charme Investments acquired a 100% interest in Ballantyne Cashmere together with Alfredo Canessa, the entrepreneur who created and who has administered Malo for over twenty years. Charme is an investment company that was established by Luca di Montezemolo with the clear goal of creating value in the luxury sector through the innovative use of entrepreneurial finance.
The partnership that made the purchase of Ballantyne a possibility was launched with the precise aim of supporting the new development phase of a famous international brand like Ballantyne with a strong entrepreneurial content. This was done through the continuation of a clear repositioning strategy introduced by Mr. Canessa in 2002 (aimed at obtaining world leadership in the reference niche sector), and that represents the beginning of a successful brand extension towards new product typologies.
Heart of the production process is the recently constructed production platform in Umbria, also the site of the creative department, where the majority of garments in precious cashmere are produced. The production of intarsia knitwear using a hand loom in the Caerlee Mills plant is an exclusively Scottish tradition.