The History: A brand with a temper

This is the case for Marina Yachting, lucky enough to have started out with an authentic heritage, a story made of people and places.

With the ancient energy that still permeates the face and look of seaside people, with the strength of the rocky sea and all of the colours, favours and odours of the Liguria land, steep but smooth.

A story that starts in 1878, when, after years of sailing, Nicolò Gavino, a resourceful sailor, chooses to drop anchor in its Genoa, where he sets up shop to sell wools and canvas, as well as reefer clothing.

Nicolò is quick-witted and has a prehensile look: when he sees the English officers with their gold-buttoned uniforms, he decides to import and sell those uniforms to the population. The jackets are blue canvas, a thick fabric, rough and practical, but not waterproof enough. He treats them with oil and whale grease to create a waterproof reefer jacket, which becomes the ancestor of Marina Yachting “Pickot”.

The business is passed from generation to generation. In 1965 it is time for Giorgio Gavino, great grandson of Nicolò Gavino who at Genoa’s Boat Show presents the first “reefer” collection. It was 1972. Giorgio Gavino decides to revisit Pickot into a contemporary outfit. He chooses the striped and wind-blown spinnaker as its logo. The “Pickot” was born.

Then the outfit waterproof treatment becomes more scientific, with 3M products and Teflon: the production of winter jackets goes bulk, and the distribution brings them to all the best Italian stores.

Success arrives with the establishment of the Milan – Tigullio Gulf axis that makes people feel at home during a holiday or a weekend in Liguria.

Classy people from Milan come here because of Portofino, the boats, Cinque Terre (Five Lands), the breathtaking landscapes and a wide range of rich flavours coming from basic and authentic elements, such as oil, Vermentino, pesto. From the sea, these flavours are taken to the city and back again, through extremely real garments, not meant for technical sailing. These outfits become the clothing style for all the sea-lovers who want an elegant touch to their sportswear, as if it were a “global” sea.

In 1972 there are few buildings on the gulf and people are well-dressed. Must-have is the classic blue pullover inspired by sailors that Marina Yachting presents in waterproof yarn: the first model, in Idrostop cotton, is called “Titti”, and since then it is the symbol of the collection together with Pickot.

The mentality and the character of the Marina Yachting brand are grounded on the story and the meaning of these two outfits. The perfect image of the collection, then and now, is a man dressed in a white cotton shirt, beige canvas slacks and a pullover, or rather, maglia, in blue cotton or wool.

For 35 years pullovers and Pickots have appeared in each Marina Yachting menswear and womenswear collection, with fits that vary from season to season, according to the trends and the heritage typical of this brand. Hence, it becomes a clothing style that is not popular nor invented nor flaunted, because it rings true.

It is not a fake or fictional brand, made by passion, out of passion, a timeless way of clothing. It is the chic Genoese, always imitated, at times unconsciously, by the Milanese.

Nowadays the collections are quite varied and complete, there are also technical garments, such as waterproof oilskins resistant up to a 200-bar force. The materials are first quality, the colours are primaries: faded blue navy, buoy red, oilskin bright yellow and aromatic herbs green. Prices are reasonable, not too low nor out of range.

The stores, ten in Italy and three abroad, are mostly by the sea and furnished in sea wood. The “packaging”, too, is equally “natural” and stylish.