Cuoio di Toscana gathers under one roof seven companies, which are part of the tanning district between Santa Croce sull’Arno (Bonistalli and Stefanelli Spa) and San Miniato (CMC International Spa Group, Gi-Elle- Emme Spa Conceria, Otello Cuoificio, Lamonti Cuoio Spa , Conceria 3S Srl and Volpi Concerie Srl), for a total of 200 employees.
Among the Cuoio di Toscana’s bests, stands out the slow vegetable tanning, an ancient process based on the use of natural tannins obtained from chestnut, mimosa and quebracho wood. The slow vegetable tanning gives sole leather an inimitable quality, it is compact, breathable, resistant, at the same time flexible and perfectly responsive to sustainable production criteria. Tradition communicates with innovation: 10% of the Consortium’s annual turnover, around 15 million euros, is invested in research and development. An attention that has led Cuoio di Toscana to devise a traceability kit, which includes the authenticity card, attesting the origin, quality and process of the vegetable-tanned sole leather with a serial number identifying the tannery supplier. The kit also includes the NFC Tag, that is a ‘smartshoe’ which, thanks to a tiny chip integrated inside the leather sole, allows not only to trace the origin and the processing method, but also to learn more about the manufacturer.
In order to preserve the sole leather quality in every working phase, the sole leather is supplied with a branded protective film, which also guarantees its authenticity and excellence. An innovative consortium also in the way of communicating: within an integrated strategy involving social networks and traditional media, there is the production of fashion movies distributed at major international film festivals. The latest: “Show your sole”, directed by Marco De Giorgi, based on a project conceived by Fabiana Giacomotti, fashion designer and scientific director of the Master in Fashion Theory and Strategies at the University of Rome La Sapienza, shows the “upside down” fashion, seen from the unprecedented perspective of the step, through the upside down story of the fashion shows. The short film, produced by Aria Adv, is sponsored by UNIC, Lineapelle and Micam Milano. It was premiered on January 9th, at Pitti Uomo 95, and will be showed at many fashion and footwear fairs as well as at important film festivals. As a matter of fact, the consortium will attend, as it has done for years, the major trade events, such as Lineapelle Milan, London and New York, Pitti Uomo, APLF – in Hong Kong, Guangzhou Fair in China.
Within the Consortium’s mission, a leading role is played by training, aimed at young stylists and designers. From here start the projects developed with some of the most excellent academic institutions in Italy such as Istituto Marangoni, Polimoda and La Sapienza. The consortium, with a turnover of 150 million a year, out of which 10% is invested in research and development, produces leather soles for Gucci, Prada, Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Louboutin, Jimmy Choo and many others. A consortium that became a byword worldwide for the made in Italy leather sole: it is Cuoio di Toscana, leader in the production of sole leather with a share market of 80% in Europe and 98% in Italy.
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