Abip by Russo di Casandrino was founded in 1940 by three brothers Pietro, Cesare and Antonio Faglia, who decided to undertake the first leather production activity at a tannery based in Brescia in Northern Italy. The enterprise was born of the initial rawhide production venture in 1917 by F.lli Faglia Pellami. Prior to the outbreak of the war, the company had grown and developed notably to the extent that a branch was inaugurated in Dessiè, Ethiopia in 1937. However, the advent of the WW2 put an immediate stop to all activities.