By Tim Cotroneo
For vacationers who love immersive travel, the Hilton Lake Como offers guests an opportunity that feels as smooth as silk. Northern Italy’s silk roots date back to the 14th century. The hotel’s Silk Tie Experience with Aquadulza is your chance to get an up-close-and-personal glimpse into the Italian fashion statement that is literally woven into the region’s fabric.
Located less than a block from northern Italy’s most famous lake, the Hilton Lake Como believes that this Silk Tie Experience is a great opportunity for guests to connect with the material that helped place the city of Como on the world map. The hotel has called on a family business, that goes back three generations, to introduce guests how silk is transformed into ties, foulards, scarves, shirts, and twillies.
What adds a heightened sense of place to the guest experience is the location of this one-hour show and tell. Guests are welcomed by Aquadulza’s Ricardo Albonico to the seventh floor hotel rooftop which delivers an incredible view of Lake Como. To further bolster your silk introduction, you learn that the very modern Hilton Lake Como building was a former silk factory dating back to the late 1800s.
Silk Ties by the Hands of an Artisan
As you sit at a table flanked by the Hilton Lake Como infinity pool and Terrazza 241 restaurant, Ricardo opens by sharing that he and his brother Tomasso have assumed the silk business baton held previously by his father and grandfather. The name Aquadulza is Italian for “sweet water” which is a tribute to Lago di Como.
Como’s silk boom began in 1400 when the Duke of Milan planted scores of Mulberry trees around the lake. The leaves of these trees are the sole source of food for the silkworm. The planting sparked factories to be built, and an eventual industrial revolution of spinning mills. By the 1970s, Lake Como’s silk output accounted for 70 percent of Europe’s production and exceeded that of China and Japan.
While Ricardo provides his guests with a brief silk history lesson, his colleague, Julia, is fast at work making a blue silk tie. The guests learn that silk tie making has been Julia’s profession since the mid-1980s.
Tools of the Trade
Julia’s tools of her trade are minimal. In addition to the silk fabric and her needle and thread, Julia positions two weights to flatten the length of the tie. She also keeps a small scissors nearby, along with a tailor’s thimble adorning the pointer finger of her left hand.
After Julia finished making the silk tie, Ricardo brought out some of the other silk options his company produces. These include bow ties, scarves, and twillies, which are usually worn as a hair tie or neck scarf.
Technology has bonded with the silk tie industry, and in the case of the Aquadulza company, this has translated into digital printing of ties and scarves. A current favorite is a scene of nearby Lake Bellagio that Ricardo said is a tie and scarf best seller.
Tie Into Lake Como’s History
Silk garments and accessories can be found in many Lake Como shops, especially in the historic City Center located at the southern tip of the lake. After your silk tie experience, you may also want to visit the Silk Museum, built as a tribute to Como’s long-standing silk tradition.
After thanking Ricardo and Julia for their outstanding presentation, the guests decided to make the most of the view where the tie experience took place. They were thrilled to find a great table at the Terrazza 241 restaurant, overlooking Lake Como.
Timing is everything, and the sun was starting to set at the open-air restaurant. In honor of their experience, the couple ordered Golden Hour cocktails which consisted of Golden Hour vodka, Saffron Gin, Vermouth, and Chamomile. After a great presentation and this beautiful view of Lake Como, why not “tie” one on? https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/mxpcohi-hilton-lake-como/
