Factories and acquisitions for Made-in-Italy shoes

Made-in-Italy shoes are back under the fashion spotlight, with production investments and m&a projects. After the drunkenness of sneakers and the temporary domination triggered by the lockdown of more comfortable models, the gradual return to normality has relaunched more precious and ceremonial footwear, the ideal terrain for Italian manufacturers advantaged in export terms also by euro devaluation. The positive feelings for this revival were captured in Milan, both during Micam and in the presentations of specialized brands during Fashion week. Manufacturers say, almost in unison, that production capacity is far below demand and at this time customers need to be selected due to lack of raw materials, specialized personnel and even available factories.

Therefore, is there the need to relaunch Italian shoe production after years of gradual decline? The answer is affirmative and starts exactly with the world’s top luxury group Lvmh, with a series of investments in Veneto and Marche. In Riviera del Brenta, the operating base for most of the brands of Mr. Arnault, starting with Louis Vuitton and Manufacture De Souliers in Fiesso d’Artico (Venice), the second Dior production hub is under construction, and it will be focused on sneakers and men’s footwear, next to the Fossò factory, inaugurated in 2015 and focused on women’s footwear

Speaking of Louis Vuitton, it was Civitanova Marche’s Mayor himself who unveiled the arrival of the group’s flagship brand in his municipality. The news, so far uncommented on by Paris, is that atelier Louis Vuitton, for the production of men’s and women’s sports shoes, will rise in the industrial area of the Marche city by 2023. In fact, in August the Civitanova council passed a variant to the master plan in order to simplify the implementation of the project, which will be built in a 25,000-square-meter area and is expected to result in 500 new hires.

In contrast, the new Fendi factory dedicated to footwear is now completed and in the process of opening. The choice of the brand administered by Serge Brunschwig has fallen on Fermo, Italy's most shoemaking city, where it is about to settle in Campiglione. This factory will replace the existing one in Porto San Giorgio and will result in an increase in employment of 130 workers to a total of 300. The training of the new artisans is being handled directly by Fendi within Fermo's Ipsia Ricci.

These and other incoming investments further shift the balance of the Fermo-Civitanova district toward production for major brands, following a path already implemented in other production clusters such as those in Veneto, Tuscany, Lombardy and Salento, where partners specializing in high-end sneakers operate. Examples include Leo Shoes, which has risen to 1,300 direct employees and four active factories, and Italian fashion team, which is traveling toward 700 employees with the latest 100 hires underway in the Albanian factory dedicated to semi-finished products.

The driving force of the brands' manufacturing partners is making investors jealous. This is the case of gruppo Florence, a production hub serving luxury fashion, which is about to make official two acquisitions in footwear, as announced by ceo Attila Kiss during the opening conference of Mipel Lab, adding that five more closings will follow by the end of the year. According to MFF, the companies being acquired should be Novarese in Corridonia (Marche) and Lorenza Calzaturificio in Filetto (Abruzzo). (All rights reserved)