Dior invested in a new factory in Tuscany

The leather goods district of Scandicci, located in the province of Florence, is attracting a major new investment from Dior. According to a report in Il Sole 24 Ore, the brand is negotiating the acquisition of a 7,500-square-meter factory, owned by furniture company Savio Firmino, to make it a handbag factory - a strategic operation given the growing saturation of Scandicci's production areas and the importance of leather goods in the balance sheet of brands large and small. The brand actually already has another location in the area, dedicated to administrative activities, prototyping and leather goods production. This new factory, which is expected to be located near the first location, will allow the expansion of the production part, thus allowing the brand to have direct control over part of the leather goods production chain, following the example of many other brands for which verticalization has become increasingly important.

New brand factories such as Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton and Tod's are also being planned or built in the Scandicci-Pontassieve district. Balenciaga, on the other hand, has already established a location in Cerreto Guidi, Florence, completing the second phase of the factory, while Givenchy has opened a location in Bagno a Ripoli as has Fendi, which built a 30,000-square-foot factory nearby that opened last October. The Tuscan leather goods district has now established itself as the capital of Made in Italy handbags and the area where the industry's expertise is concentrated. However, the problem of shortage of skilled personnel and adequate training persists. Indeed, the big brands that have opened factories in recent years have set up in-house academies to train young people directly, offering them the chance to work closely with experienced leatherworkers.