Ubrique’s own-brand ambitions
At the end of November, we reported on growth in China for a recent start-up leathergoods brand, Yuzefi, sharing optimistic comments about 2022 and beyond that founder, Naza Yousefi, shared with The Financial Times.
It’s a London-based company that sources its leather in Italy and its bags are made in the Spanish town of Ubrique.
In describing its bag production set-up, though, Yuzefi does not mention Ubrique by name. It has a ‘sustainability statement’ on its website, which says: “All of our bags are made in a small industrial town in Andalusia in southern Spain. We know all of the artisans who make our bags and we visit regularly to ensure that our standards are being met and our partners are happy. We are proud of the fact that, together with some of fashion’s best-loved luxury brands, we are contributing to the preservation of skills and crafts that go back many generations.”
One person who would probably not be surprised that this hearty endorsement of the skills and traditions of the expert artisans in Ubrique does not name Ubrique is the town’s mayor, Isabel Gómez.
In recent comments to specialist media in Spain, Ms Gómez said the town was used to hosting representatives of lots of brands, including Chanel, Dior, Loewe, Givenchy, Prada and Lanvin, but she recognised that those brands’ customers are unlikely to know about the connection between the bags and other products they love and Ubrique.
She said that one of the challenges the town has is to create more brands of its own and “not to rely always on third parties”. Ms Gómez explained that a technology centre that operates in Ubrique, the Andalusia Leather Technology Centre, is working to create a new umbrella brand for producers based in the town.
The mayor added that she is optimistic about gaining protected geographical indication (PGI) for leathergoods from Ubrique. This has been the preserve mainly of food products until now, but she said pathways to PGI certification were now opening up to other types of products and that a case for Ubrique leathergoods was under consideration.
Finally, Isabel Gómez made it clear that Ubrique intends to apply for funding from European Union programmes such as Horizon Europe to invest in new technology at the Andalusia Leather Technology Centre for the benefit of all of the town’s leathergoods manufacturers.
“What is clear,” she said, “is that leather was Ubrique’s past, leather is its present and leather will be its future. Here, we use our hands to turn other people’s dreams into reality.”
Image: Ubrique is home to a leather technology centre, but also to a training centre devoted to artisan leather skills (shown here).
Credit: Ubrique Turismo
