Our history
We have been looking to the future since 1926
1885
Our founder Maurice Morel was born in 1885 in Normandy, in Pont de l’Arche. The son of a shoemaker, he learned the trade early and at the age of 14 was working at a well-known shoe factory in Arpajon. Enterprising and visionary, he set up a small workshop where he developed a new glue by dissolving caoutchouc rubber. The adventure begins.
1920
The Great War was the turning point. Wounded, on his hospital bed he had a simple yet brilliant idea: a cotton gauze impregnated with glue, easy to shape and apply and perfect as a reinforcement for toe puffs. In 1920 he opened his first factory in Arpajon.
1924
In a short time Maurice opened several plants across Europe and became a benchmark for shoe factories. It was above all the toe puffs of his own invention that made him famous: he proclaimed himself “King of hard toes” and became a legend.
1926
Maurice’s Italian adventure begins in Milan.
1935
The Milan headquarters also suffered the consequences of the 1929 crisis. Morel called on a young auditor from Teatro alla Scala, Antonio Ghiringhelli, entrusting him with financial management and the construction of the new plant in Via Gradisca 18.
1938
Morel appears on the cover of the prestigious Rivista Italiana delle Calzature. Alice Bonfanti believed in the company and, together with Maurice Morel and Antonio Ghiringhelli, became one of its main shareholders.
1943 – 1945
The Second World War. Morel was confiscated by the German army and chosen as a strategic position for an anti-aircraft gun on the roof. In 1944 British forces bombed the plant, destroying the warehouse. In 1945 it was occupied by the Americans and placed under the protection of the Allied Military Government.
1948
Antonio Ghiringhelli was called to oversee the reconstruction of Teatro alla Scala, becoming its superintendent. While remaining president, he entrusted Morel to a young chemistry graduate, Ottavio Bonfanti.
In the 50's
Economic boom. Morel entrusted its image to the famous Studio Boggeri in Milan, which created iconic labels designed by Walter Ballmer, future graphic designer at Olivetti.
In the 60's
Silvertex and Morelast. With Silvertex, Morel turned its attention to sustainability, creating the first line of water-based glues. Maurice’s original idea was improved by new technologies: Morelast was born, still our best seller today.
1972
Maurice Morel passed away and, ever the eccentric character he had always been, did so in style: he built himself a tomb engraved with “The King of hard toes”.
1992
Ottavio handed over the baton to his son Luca Bonfanti. The adhesives division was sold in order to concentrate all technological and research resources on the manufacture of toe puffs and counters.
2021
The Morel brand becomes part of Industrie Chimiche Forestali.