Italy has a long history of beret wearing and making. Large diameter berets in wool and velvet have been popular since the middle ages and 3/4 century ago many factory workers donned a Basco Roma (or Basco Popolare Operaio Uomo) as part of their daily wear. 

The berets made by Baschificio A. Setti have a history that goes back to 1925, the year that Alberto Setti set up business in a workshop at number 24 of the Via Fanti, in Carpi. Alberto combined his commercial intuition with great technical know-how, reflected by the number of patents taken out and registered by his company. The concepts of quality control and the ongoing research to improve his products were the foundation stones of Alberto Setti's entrepreneurial philosophy - leaving a company that to this day produces some of the finest berets one can find.

Here, at South Pacific Berets, we stock the most famous of Italian berets: the Basco Roma. A traditional worker's beret in a 24.5cm diameter. One of the best known adepts of this beret is film director Federico Fellini. The Roma comes in a large variety of sizes and apart from the standard colours Black and Navy, is (only at South Pacific Berets) available in Brown and Anthracite Grey.

One size up in diameter is the Basco Francia, in 27 cm. The Francia is the more luxurious version of the Roma, with satin lining and embroidered 'Super Basque' label. Fitted with a headband the Francia is available in variety of sizes in Black, Navy, Brown and Grey. Thanks to it's light weight, a perfect beret for anything but harsh Siberian winters. The Basco Franco was made immortally famous by Terrence Hill in the Don Matteo TV series.

The Bascos Pura Lana are Baschificio A. Setti's headband-less, one size fit all berets, in 100% merino wool and a large variety of colours. The diameter is 28 cm; un-lined, artisan made, very comfortable unisex berets.