Spanish leathergoods talent is “turning the heads” of major global brands
10/06/2015
In spite of this, he explained that the country’s centres of technical and professional training are still failing to recognise the need to train a new generation of artisans in traditional skills. He explained in recent comments to Spanish business media that the luxury leathergoods brand he works for set up its own training school at its headquarters in Getafe, near Madrid, precisely because “there is a lack of training on offer specifically for our sector” in institutions up and down the land.
Official figures show that there are a total of 1,150 manufacturing companies operating in leather and footwear in Spain at the moment. Círculo Fortuny, a wide-ranging group of 41 high-end companies representing all segments of the luxury sector in Spain, has said all of its members have reached the same conclusion as Loewe: the only way to train a new generation of artisans is to do it independently and to expect no help from any level of government.
These 1,150 companies may also be at risk of losing some of their most skilled members of staff to rivals in other countries.
“Luxury and premium brands are starting to look at Spain as a place where they can capture talent,” said Mr Alonso Cases. “Ubrique in Cádiz and Elda in Alicante are good examples of this. The know-how in those towns in leathergoods and footwear respectively is turning the heads of large, global groups.”
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