“In the past I used to make use of leather coming from other countries. France and the United Kingdom, for example. Subsequently, I decided to enhance progressively the quality standards of my shoes manufacturing. I realized that only Italian leather could provide excellence I was actually looking for. At present I make use of leather made in Italy, exclusively”. Such is the comment of Makoto Shimamura (in the picture), from Kanpekina, a Japanese brand that specializes in the manufacturing of high-end men’s shoes. Kanpekina stress the fact that Italian leather’s quality is not only unmatchable, but also essential.
The brand history
Vinaseiko, headquartered in Chiba (near Tokyo airport), is a company that began its activity in 1985 as a footwear contractor. They used to produce shoes for a few Japanese brands. Twenty years later, in 2005, they decided to create their own brand. They founded Kanpekina, which hire 20 employees and achieve 20% of sales abroad, especially in France.
More and more export
“2019 was quite positive. In 2020, we aim to invest in Kanpekina by implementing a strategy to develop exports”, remarked Makoto Shimamura. “Since we want to play the market and overcome our competitors, we rely a great deal on quality, with regard to materials and processing”, continued the Japanese entrepreneur, who shows up at Lineapelle every now and then. “Most of the leather I make use of comes from Tuscany, but I also use other materials coming from Italy. Bottoms, for example”, pointed out Shimamura. He hopes that he will manage to play in Italy’s market as well. “Italy means quality shoes. In Japan, we are doing a good job. A few specialised magazines are getting to know our brand, which is getting more popular. We aim to keep up the good work throughout 2020”.
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