Agreement between Lectra and Kuka Home: the Chinese upholstery giant wants to get smart

China’s economy is changing, and with it the strategies of the Chinese players. Kuka Home, the furniture and upholstery group with headquarters in Hong Kong (2500 single-brand stores, present in 120 countries) that also produces leather sofas (purchased in Europe and tanned at home, we can read on the company website), has signed an agreement […]

The return of the Italians: 10,000 visitors to Mipel, signs of recovery from Italy

Organisers interpret it as a positive sign: in Italy we are witnessing a recovery (albeit still modest) in domestic consumption. Of the 10,000 buyers that flocked to the stands at Mipel, the leather goods fair that closed its doors yesterday after four days of activity, the slight prevalence of Italian visitors was apparent. “The exhibitors […]

The holidays are over, let the exhibitions commence! Here is the calendar for September

Now that the holidays are over, in September, the companies in the tanning industry are set to experience an extremely busy month, packed with exhibitions. Here are some of the most important dates, some of which are currently ongoing, or have already ended: Sapica León, 30 August–2 September; All China Leather Exhibition Shanghai, 31 August–2 […]

The emir from Qatar in Florence snaps up Benheart brand leather jackets

One warm Sunday this August, Hicham BenMbarek, an artisan with Moroccan roots received a visit from a special tourist in his shop in Via della Vigna Nuova in Florence: Sheik Hamed Bin Khalifa Al Thani (pictured in the shop in Florence). The emir, whose family now owns half of Italy, or rather the Valentino maison […]

Protectionism: Moscow renews the export ban on wet-blue, Kenya thinks again

Technically it had expired on May 30. Following the umpteenth six-monthly extension, a mechanism that has been repeating itself since the Russian government decided to close its frontiers to exports of wet-blue. Officially, it was renewed on 27 July, with retroactive effect from 18 July, and is valid until 18 January 2017. The reason? Moscow […]

Lineapelle New York (19/20 July): dynamic edition in the USA

Expectations met and new market feedback at Lineapelle New York, which took place on 19 and 20 July at the Metropolitan Pavilion. The 100 exhibitors present (+20% compared to the previous edition) exchanged views on a fundamental market for the Italian leather industry: +13% national tanned leather exports to Washington in the first quarter of […]

B&G speaks French: in order to triple its turnover, the Tuscan luxury leather manufacturer is entering into a partnership with the transalpine giant

French industrial method and Italian quality for the luxury leather manufacturer. The Burgundy-based group Maroquinerie Thomas (1,250 employees, €100 million turnover, Hermès and Chanel among its customers) has bought 35% of B&G di Franco Baccani (two plants in the provinces of Florence and Arezzo, turnover of €9.5 million, Gucci and Cartier among the labels supplied) […]

A British designer wants to tan human hide (and in the meantime is practising with pigskin). What does Alexander McQueen have to do with it?

The project is both ambitious and controversial. Tina Gorjanc, who gained her diploma at the Central Saint Martins College fashion school in London, wants to set up laboratory cultures of human skin using the DNA of Alexander McQueen, the volatile English designer who committed suicide in 2010. Once she has obtained a sufficient quantity of […]