We have invited Aurelio Mutinelli, Selleria Pariani’s President, to tell us about his own and his company’s story, a long-standing Milanese firm, which created the first modern saddle worldwide.
When did the story of Selleria Pariani begin?
In the early 20th century, Adolfo Pariani was the owner of a shop in Milan, a few steps from the Duomo, specialising in English apparel and articles. As he was working with skilled craftsmen, he decided to start making his own saddles and accessories, to stop importing them from then UK. In those years, Federico Caprilli, a cavalry officer from Pinerolo, was developing a new horse-mounting system which, unlike the British one in use at the time, allowed the horse to move more freely and naturally. Adolfo Pariani offered to cooperate with him and create a saddle fitting the new system, and lieutenant Caprilli agreed.
This is how, in 1905, the “Pinerolo saddling system”, named after the town in Piedmont where the famous Scuola di Cavalleria was based, came to life. And this is how the story of Selleria Pariani began.