Argentine: crisis for the leather and meat sector. Shoe market and slaughtering collapse, while tensions with Brazil increase

According to INDEC, the Argentinean National Institute of Statistics, 2016 has seen Argentine decreasing its consumption of shoes and leather accessories by over 30%. For example, INDEC has registered a shortfall of about 28 million unsold footwear or even no longer produced. Alberto Sellaro, President of the Argentine footwear manufacturers, labelled the situation as ‘horrible’. […]

‘Less is more’: US department stores to reduce leather goods offering. “It will sell better and at full price”

In preparation for the holiday shopping season, some luxury retailers such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and Barneys New York, will put on their shelves a reduced selection of bags. Their aim is to “differentiate themselves from the competitors “considering that the offering has become excessively (and dangerously) homogeneous. “By reducing the variety of collections offered and […]

Car interiors, Lear Corporation opens the hub of creativity in Detroit in synergy with colleges and universities

“The hub of art, creativity, automotive advanced concept development and hands-on learning for students”. This is how Lear Corporation, leading supplier of interiors for the car industry, defines the new centre for innovation opened in Detroit in synergy with the College for Creative Studies (CCS) and the Wayne State University (WSU). The American company has […]

Footwear: US imports down, Japanese ones on the up

United States – a healthy market for footwear? No, imports fell in the first six months of the year. Japan in crisis? No, shoe purchases from abroad increased in the first half of the year. Unstoppable China? No, footwear exports between January and June collapsed. Let’s start with the USA, responsible for 20.8% of world […]

CLEAR: the roadmap to the shared document on leather chemicals

Sorting out the protocols and existing guidelines and those already being applied by the big leather brands. Selecting the best of all of these in every field and developing new ones in those areas where they don’t exist. Drawing up a document that sets out the agreement between brands and suppliers on issues involving chemicals […]

Guess what Bob Dylan’s got to do with footwear (and Spanish leather)…

Bob Dylan’s grandfather was a shoe manufacturer, and Bob contributed (perhaps unknowingly) to launching the Clarks brand and has written songs about shoes. The new Nobel Literature laureate’s paternal grandfather, Zigman Zimmerman, lived in Odessa in Ukraine, where he had a large shoe factory. He fled to the USA as a victim of the 1905 […]

Maserati and Zegna are renewing their partnership: premium leathers and chevron patterns for the new collection

The collaboration between Maserati and the Ermenegildo Zegna brand is continuing and becoming stronger. After the capsule collection of leather clothing and accessories produced exactly a year ago, the two luxury brands are now presenting “Zegna-Maserati SS 2017” in parallel with the arrival of the Suv Levante in the United Kingdom. The new collection, available […]