What do the Amerigo Vespucci‘s Book of Honour and the oldest Hebrew Bible have in common? Leather. The first tome was made by the Scriptorium Foroiuliense of Udine, which donated it to the Amerigo Vespucci training ship before its departure. At least one hundred leathers were used by the scribe who, around 900, wrote the […]
69% of Americans don’t know how much plastic they wear. And Stella McCartney, one of the biggest pioneers of the use of natural fibres in fashion, is surprised. Let’s rewind the tape. The figure emerges from a survey by Protein Evolution, the vegan designer’s partner in the creation of fabrics in her collections from the...
In the Everglades, the swampy area in South Florida, tanning is coming to solve the problem of invading pythons. Yes, because ever since someone (probably private owners) released pythons from Burma into the wild in the early 1980s, the ecosystem of the US region has been overwhelmed by the voracity of the Asian reptile. The...
Here we go again: KIA eliminates leather from new cars and substitutes it for bio-polyurethane and the promise to invest in “new bio-materials”. The position of the brand part of the Hyundai Motor Company group comes with the presentation of the EV9 model. The decision is based on the general pretense that this move is...
Company crisis for Factory, in Fucecchio. The Tuscan company specialised in leather clothing and owner of the DROMe brand is risking liquidation, and is currently unable to pay salaries to its 40 employees. On 17 May 2023, “at the crisis unit table at the Region of Tuscany, we learned that the company, following a request […]
Burberry thanks leather goods. During the fiscal year that ended on April 2023, comparable sales of leather goods (considering the same number of stores), grew 12%. During the 4th quarter, the increment was 15% thanks to the recovery of the Chinese market. To compare the result, coats’ sales, another strong category for the brand, grew […]
Copies and plagiarism. GCDS takes action against Shein. Louboutin sues Vinci Leather. On his Instagram account Giuliano Calza, founder and creative director of the GCDS brand, accused Shein of plagiarism. The Chinese ultrafast fashion giant copied the Morso model, which has a heel/sole composed of sharp teeth, similar to the open mouth of a shark....
Manufacturers call them “vegan alternatives” and sell them as “bio-based” generally. The same manufacturers though offer few elements allowing a clear understanding of the real composition of the materials. They don’t clear say what the vegetable matrix is (as it’s pretty much plastic/synthetic), when it comes to their textiles, even while selling them as “super-sustainable”. […]
In a recent interview with WWD, he defined what the role of a brand’s creative director should be today. In a nutshell: “To bring the DNA of the brand to the forefront and make it relevant to the period, without altering the true DNA of the brand itself”. Now, Jonathan William Anderson (pictured), at the […]
“Leather is not just a material, but a medium for creating works of art”. So says Lebanese entrepreneur and designer Galia Dirani, who produces bags and small leather goods in Italy. Galia is founder and CEO of The Line Branding, a brand development consultancy agency. In 2014, she founded La Gallia, a luxury lifestyle brand....
Pinko, handbags and shoes to double revenue, and look towards an IPO. The brand headquartered in Faenza (Parma) has clear goals. From 213 million euro of 2019, to 500 million in 2 or 3 years. Among growth the drivers is the expansion of accessories. Leather goods are already being developed by an internal business unit. […]
Idee Partners bought the remaining 40% of leather goods’ manufacturer Petri & Lombardi in Bientina (Pisa). Given that in 2021 it had acquired 60% of the company, this operation makes Idee Partners owner of 100% of Petri & Lombardi’s shares. The former is controlled by Pattern, which owns 54% of Idee Partners. By closing this operation,...
Tod’s is confident. Very good quarterly data, April was also good, and “the trend of orders for the winter collections was excellent”. Leather goods continue to grow vigorously and the recovery in China is making itself felt on the balance sheet. Overall, in the first three months of 2023, Tod’s Group’s consolidated sales reached 270.5...
Pollini accelerates, Moschino reverses. The footwear brand’s sales grew 23% year-on-year in Q1 2023. Those of Moschino, on the other hand, fell by 13%. A negative result that the parent company Aeffe attributes to the start of Moschino’s own collection and distribution rationalisation plan. Overall, Aeffe’s footwear and leather goods sales were stable, while clothing […]
Richemont’s financial statement and Tapestry’s quarter are both positive. The Swiss group closed the fiscal year on March 31st with record revenue (nearly 20 billion euro) and operating profit (5 billion euro). The group beat market forecasts and reinforces the with to remain independent. Tapestry too managed to do more than expected during the 3rd...
To train new tanning professionals able to face the challenges of sustainability. This is the aim of the inter-university master’s degree LEATECH (Innovative Technologies for Leather) supported by COTANCE. The project is led by the A3 Leather Innovation Centre – UdL of the Igualada Campus (Spain) which is joined by ITECH University (France), EGE University […]
It was February 2021 when Oliver Heilmer, Mini‘s head of design, announced in the columns of Autocar a leather-free future for his brand. Heilmer’s words, as one might expect, caused some astonishment and debate. Because the manager associated the decision to abandon leather with its (entirely alleged) “non-sustainability”. And even ICT, the body representing the […]
After a number of tanning entities published their results, it’s time for a recap. Let’s start with the USA, where the negative trend of the US tanning segment continues. After the early data from January and February 2023, the Leather and Hide Council of America once again discusses exports of raw bovine hides and semi-finished...
Join the dots. That is: connect the dots. One in particular. Yellow, like the light and like the stylistic vision of Lineapelle, which has returned to South Korea to promote its creative impact. It did so by organising a series of meetings in which it put the quality of Italian leather on the table (literally...
Eight industrial buildings, 44,000 square meters, 100 million euro invested, 226 employees, 4.5 million products shipped. These are the numbers of Prada’s new distribution center in Levanella, near Montevarchi. The site is now at full regime, and beside from distribution operations, it hosts quality control over all products of the Prada group. The luxury brand,...
