“We have to go back to putting the quality of materials in the foreground”. Antonio Quirici, president of Consorzio Cuoio di Toscana, illustrates the concept behind the project developed with Naturino. An exclusive collaboration with the brand specialised in children’s footwear, unveiled at Pitti Bimbo, which began on Tuesday in Florence. And not only. Cuoio di Toscana also collaborated with designer Thebe Magugu, special guest at Pitti Uomo.
The quality of materials
“In the past, there was a tradition that children’s feet had to be in contact with leather – explains Quirici -. But over time, this tradition has faded. Leather is mainly used for women’s and men’s shoes, and very little is used for children. This collaboration with Naturino marks a restart in this sense, for a market ready for green products.
The leather trend
Cuoio di Toscana represents 7 specialised Tuscan tanneries. “2020 ended with a decline of about 30% on 2019 turnover, which was 150 million euros. We expect to catch up this year, which we estimate to close at around 120 million” says Quirici, who wants to focus on communication and social media to convey the concepts of biodegradability, naturalness and sustainability of leather. “The future? Cautious optimism. We see a recovery, and we hope to return to 2019 levels as soon as possible” he concludes.
Salina Ferretti’s comment
Salina Ferretti is CEO of FALC, a company from Civitanova Marche that owns Naturino (as well as brands such as Voile Blanche, Falcotto, Candice Cooper). And she agrees with Quirici, that the quality of materials must return to the center of attention of both producers and consumers. “The collaboration with Consorzio Cuoio di Toscana is a further step for our production, which is already attentive to sustainability, given that we only use leathers from Italian tanneries, and many are also vegetable tanned. The pandemic has accentuated the polarisation of the market between customers who struggle the most and those who have a positive trend. There is, however, a desire for novelty – she concludes -. You have to be very dynamic”.
In the photo, at Pitti Bimbo, from the left: Salina Ferretti and Antonio Quirici
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