Katia yarns, 70 years of history 100% You

Inspired by his wife Pepita Vila, Ramon Castelló founded Hilaturas Génesis, a handcraft yarn business. And what was that inspiration? A small yarn store that Pepita ran in Manresa (Barcelona) during the Spanish Civil War.
As you can see, since its inception, yarn stores have been an essential part of Katia’s DNA.

Ramon Castelló Vila, the couple’s eldest son, expanded Génesis toward the textile industry. He also continued betting on the handcraft yarns that, in the next decade, would become the origin of... Any guesses?

Katia, indeed! We’re a branch specialized in handcraft yarns. Our name also comes from one of Génesis’ three star products: Manola, Fina and Katia. Now you know the story behind the name of our brand!
Why Katia and not one of the other names? It’s a mystery...
Led by Josep Lluís Castelló Vila, Pepita and Ramon’s third son, we bet on innovative colorways and fantasy yarns. Without a doubt, our original yarns, full of color and textures, very different to traditional yarns, are our brand’s hallmark.
Just when we were starting to make a name for ourselves on the market, a fire destroyed our offices and warehouse in 1978.
Encouraged by the sector’s upward trend, we carried on and started exporting to countries in Europe and the Middle East.

From here, we grew with new installations (no less than 12,000 m2) and took part in important industry fairs such as Kreatief, Handarbeit or Pitti Filatti.
We published our first pattern magazines with designs that amaze thousands of knitters. Some of the covers from the 1980s feature actresses like Pastora Vega, Ángela Molina and a budding top model, Judit Mascó.
In 1983, Katia’s offices and warehouse were flooded, but our team stayed afloat by working hard.
We promoted a new type of store as an alternative to franchises and developed our own software program to offer our customers a flexible and exclusive service.

Without a doubt, the 1990s were another endurance test:
• our sector experienced a serious crisis due to changing trends.
• We closed Katia International, the branch we opened in Moscow, because of the ruble’s devaluation after the USSR collapsed.
• And for the second time in our history, we suffered a terrible fire that destroyed everything... except a hard drive with accounting information!
In 1998, after some of the toughest months yet, we made a comeback (like a phoenix rising from the ashes) as Fil Katia, S.A. This was made possible by the resilience and participation of some of our team members as shareholders.
By then, we already had our own sales network in France, one of our most important markets.
One year later, we moved to Katia’s current headquarters in Castellbell i el Vilar, a village in the province of Barcelona surrounded by a unique natural landscape, the mountains of Montserrat.

With the new millennium, our dear Maria Teresa Aurell joined us as general director.
After consolidating the direct sales model applied initially in France, we decided to create our own sales network in Germany (2007), the United Kingdom (2008), Belgium and the Netherlands (2009).
We want to be a leader in the European market and beyond... In fact, in 2005 we opened a flagship store in Beijing. This adventure in China was fleeting!

The third generation of the Castelló family joined Katia, seeking new ways of taking the experience of DIYers to the next level.
In our effort to become an important brand within the world of textile handcrafts:
• We launched Concept by Katia, our exquisite collection of high-end yarns alongside a magazine to knit and crochet minimalist and sophisticated designs.
• We brought back the Spanish brand Lanas Stop, adding a selection of their best yarns for babies to our catalog, alongside the Canastilla magazine.
• We started out in the world of macramé with specific products, as well as patterns and video tutorials to help people learn this technique.
• We grew beyond our comfort zone and jumped head-first into sewing with Katia Fabrics, our fabric brand with exclusive prints and modern patterns to sew at home.
• We started connecting with fans of handmade things, crafters, and stores on social media, creating a huge online creative community.
• Since we know about the creative process, we created Premium Designers to share the talent, story, and love independent designers from around the globe have for knitting and crochet.
Now, more than ever, we feel like we’re a leading brand for all those who enjoy handcrafts and we included the new Katia 100% YOU branding with three purposes: to encourage creativity, build a community, and generate wellbeing.
During this decade, we became established in Italy (2011), Scandinavia (2017), Mexico (2018) and Canada (2019).
We also wanted to help our customers to sell online, so we turned katia.com into their online sales platform. Our website connects consumers with stores in Spain, (Mainland and Balearic Islands), France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Portugal.