A share of the spoils
Franco Gabbrielli, president of Assopellettieri, the main industry body for Italy’s leathergoods manufacturers, has launched Mipel Lab as a new way to present the talent of member companies to some of the biggest names in luxury.
As Italy’s leather accessories manufacturers emerge from the covid-19 pandemic, how important is it for them to be entrepreneurial?
Italy is strong in producing leathergoods for brands and supplying them well. We have the skills and the know-how for making the products for the big luxury groups in France, while what they know how to do is to create successful brands. We are in a time of recovery, but we have the wind in our sails now. The funding we receive from the European Union will be well spent in Italy and this will help us. Our current prime minister, Mario Draghi, is a serious person who does what he says he will do.
If Assopellettieri member companies, especially the smaller ones, want to make recovery a priority, will they find the time, the budget, the vision and the energy to develop a strategy for digitalisation and internationalisation?
Our association is important in this. We have to stay together to achieve these aims. We have just had to confront a big problem, covid-19, and I think people understand now that they can’t face these things alone. The recovery fund [Italy will receive more than €190 billion in grants and loans] can help us invest in new, digital infrastructure and new technology. Something I think is really important is that most of our member companies are small. Some of them don’t understand digital very well. And, yes, it would be difficult for a small company with a turnover of, say, €3 million to make some of the necessary investments on its own. But the association can drive the development and help these companies become competitive in e-commerce. There can be benefits for everyone.
Mipel Lab is an initiative Assopellettieri launched last year to help Italian leathergoods manufacturers become outsource suppliers to brands at home and overseas. How does Mipel Lab work? Do brands choose specific suppliers to work with or does Assopellettieri conduct a dialogue with customers to understand their requirements and then invite its member companies to bid for the contract?
The idea is to present our best manufacturers to brands, digitally and physically at exhibitions such as Lineapelle. Brands come to Lineapelle to find leather and, with Mipel Lab, they can find a finished-product partner, too, all in the same place. We have a team of five people checking every company to make sure only the best in sustainability and quality are part of this. Two of the five are from Assopellettieri, but three are from outside: one from professional services firm EY, one from Italy’s institute for certifying the quality of leather, ICEC, and one from the organisers of the Lineapelle exhibition. We had 13 member companies take part in Mipel Lab at Lineapelle in September and increased this to 16 at the February edition. In time, we want this figure to reach around 50 companies and hope to open it up on the digital side.
How can you be sure the system will be fair?
It will be fair because we will share the work. Some of our companies are already producing for big brands and are very busy. It’s simply not possible for those busy companies to take on all of the new contracts Mipel Lab will generate because they do not have the capacity to take the work on. It’s about sharing Italy’s status as the best place for the big brands to turn to for the supply of high-quality leathergoods that tick all the boxes.
Will the leathergoods manufacturers in Italy who are already working in this way, as outsource suppliers to big-name brands, want to have competition from other manufacturers in Italy through Mipel Lab?
Mipel Lab will be like a club and the club will provide a service to the brands, but the brands, for their part, will need to show the same commitment to artisanship as our companies have. We can’t have a situation in which the brands think they can get away with demanding the quality and flexibility that Italian companies can offer them and paying a pittance for them. Our flexibility will help the brands give a quicker response to consumers. Many consumers don’t want to wait three years for a bag.
What reaction has Assopellettieri received already since announcing the Mipel Lab idea?
Our member companies have responded very well and we are happy with the companies we have found. The Mipel exhibition has been running for 60 years, with the 121st edition of the event taking place March 13-15. At Lineapelle in February, we had Mipel Lab number two. It’s something new for a new generation and it’s good that Mipel can come up with something new after all these years. We want them to continue to exhibit at Mipel, but small companies exerting too much effort to build up their own brands all of the time is misguided. They can split it 50-50. They can spend half their time making good products for good partners for a good price, and the other half working on their own brands.
Franco Gabbrielli, President of Assopellettieri
