COVER STORY
WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
Cases, or not?
From Milan to Florence, two snapshots of Clark’s situation. Layoffs, crisis and many doubts.
Hurry, it’s getting late
Behind Clarks’s difficulties we can find concern about management, who changed faces and strategies, moving its hub to Asia, but still struggling to grow again.
SUMMARY
UK, USA, ITALY
Lineapelle speeds up
Both London and New York previews (the former is scheduled on 23rd January, the latter on 31st January/1st February) are growing in numbers (of visitors and exhibitors) and importance. Likewise, Milan fair (on the agenda on February 20/22) reinforces its worldwide leadership. Lineapelle’s exhibitions, coming up earlier in 2018, give the market the essential opportunity to look into 2019 summer trends and test actual recovery underway
THE KEYWORDS
2018 x 1 | 12 x 2017
The leather segment found the light in 2017. In the next few pages we will tell you how, using 12 key words. Everybody is talking about recovery and (hopefully) consolidation. We, on the other hand, believe it will be the year for an acceleration.
MADE IN ITALY
Everyone must know
Two ex-Zappos employees, one ex-UGG, and a video-poker expert. The US Ross&Snow team is happy to be producing shoes in Italy, starting with leather, and happy to include retailers and clients in this tale of “all quality”.
LEATHERGOODS INVEST
Full speed ahead
New projects to increase production in France and Italy. Longchamp plans a new production site in Vandea. Fendi plans on opening a new production site in Tuscany in 2019, with 350 employees.
THE DEBATE
Did somebody say “product”?
Having the most prestigious logo isn’t enough to sell. The New York Times asks sector operators how the luxury industry is going. And the answers given by the interviewee are all about, inevitably, manufacturing and material.
FROM 16 TO 18 MAY
Ready for UITIC
Uitic 20th conference is scheduled on May 16-18 in Prtugal. Brands, retailers, manufacturers and suppliers to debate the effects of digital revolution on footwear industry.
HIDES&LEATHER
The origin of defects
Virtues and (more often, vices) of the livestock industry and slaughterhouses, strongly impact the quality of raw material. Yet, they also impact the market.
The quality paradox
Luxury brands want homogeneous and refined leather. The “natural” type is hard to accept but it is harder and harder to find excellent raw material on the market.
ACCORDING TO BRUSSELS
The hamburger comes first
The European Commission schedules the date for discussing new regulations on “vegan food”. But a letter written by Cotance to the Commission isn’t even answered.
GLOBAL PROBLEMS
Puns
Bonded leather, flyleather, and vegan leather. The public in the US market is confused by manufacturers that use wrong terminology to give synthetic materials the prestige of leather. Follows the testimony of the leather research laboratory from University of Cincinnati.
BRAZILIAN DEBATE
No to duties, yes to duties
The debate on the 9% duty currently in place on Brazilian raw hides
and wetblue heats up again. Abafrigo’s slaughterhouses wasn’t the duty gone. CICB tanners want to keep it in place. Quality is at the center of this matter.
Raw hides, you are getting expensive
Almost one billion euros. The amount lost by the Brazilian tanning industry due to low quality raw hides.
HIGHLIGHTS
UNITED KINGDOM | BRAZIL | INDONESIA | CAMBODIA | INDIA | ETHIOPIA | USA
