Arsutoria Studio
Arsutoria Studio

Spanish collections for F/W 2024-25 successfully presented in Milan

Spanish footwear exports, in the first eleven months of 2023, reached 3,010.8 million euros and 146.2 million pairs, an increase of 6.4 percent in value and a decrease of 1.2 percent in pairs compared to the same period in 2022.

These numbers frame the situation of the Spanish footwear market. While denoting its resilience, they certainly cannot shield it from the many critical issues and uncertainties affecting the entire industry.

 

One positive sign, however, certainly came from the participation of Spanish companies at MICAM Milan in February 2024: a total of one hundred Spanish exhibitors, representing 123 brands.

This was the same number of companies that, under the aegis of Shoes from Spain, participated in the fair in 2023.

 

“MICAM is the most important trade fair for the footwear sector and it is good news that, despite the delicate situation the sector is going through, many companies presented their collections in Milan,” said Rosana Perán, president of FICE, who added, “The complex economic situation, influenced by rising inflation, international geopolitical conflicts and rising labor costs, has put companies in a difficult position. However, the high presence in Milan reflects the resilience of the sector and its commitment to internationalization.”

 

Spain was the second largest exhibitor country at MICAM. A high participation that allowed companies to highlight their commitment to design, quality, sustainability and innovation.

 

Imanol Martínez, Marketing Director of FICE, closes the review with the latest export data: “In the first eleven months of 2023 we exported the same number of pairs, but 20% more expensive, as in the same period of 2019. Italy is the second largest buyer of Spanish footwear, with 15.4 percent of the total. From January to November 2023, exports to Italy totaled 462.5 million euros and 23.3 million pairs, up 22.3 percent in value and 12.5 percent in volume compared to 2022. Compared with the same period in 2019 (pre-Covid data), exports to Italy are 44.7 percent higher in value and 24 percent higher in pairs.”

NexX4TM, the revolutionary new sole

Imagine wearing a shoe with a sole that is transparent, just like glass, but completely and easily customisable aesthetically, in terms of colour, texture and design. Suitable for any type of shoe, shape and thickness. A unique sole, characterised by extreme lightness, high abrasion resistance, long life and constant high performance in all weather conditions. NexX4TM is the new brand that identifies this incredible innovation, developed by the JVI-Engineering Business Unit owned by JV International srl (jvinternational.com). With NexX4TM, JVI-Engineering has decided to change the rules of the game by revolutionising not only the world of soles but the very way footwear is conceived, designed and manufactured.
At the military trade fair – Enforce Tac in Nuremberg (26-28 February) – the Czech brand Prabos is the first to choose NexX4TM on its Striker model, an ultra-resistant camouflage combat boot.
In this shoe, the application of NexX4TM plays a key role. Thanks to its transparency, this sole blends perfectly with the boot’s camouflage style. The unrivalled lightness of NexX4TM offers extreme comfort, while the special design of the tread, combined with the intrinsic characteristics of the material, guarantees a firm grip even on wet and damp terrain. The high performance in terms of abrasion resistance, lightness, grip and consistent performance over a wide temperature range from -40 to +40 make this boot unrivalled in its sector. From fashion to uniform, from sport to work & safety NexX4TM establishes itself as the solution of the future. Not just a sole, but a true technology capable of making each shoe unique and able to exceed expectations, more and more up to every daily or extraordinary need, in any climate and environment.


Kerry Brozyna is the new president of L&HCA

The Leather & Hide Council of America (L&HCA) has appointed Kerry Brozyna as Acting President, effective June 2024. He brings significant experience in brands, manufacturing and international supply chain management as he moves from Wolverine Worldwide (WWW), where he served as Vice President and General Manager.
Brozyna, currently serving as co-chair on the board of L&HCA, takes over from Stephen Sothmann, who served as L&HCA President for twelve years and who now joins DTB AgriTrade and follows an open selection process conducted by the L&HCA executive committee.
In his new role, Brozyna will oversee the strategic direction of L&HCA, as the voice of a U.S. industry worth more than $1 billion per annum and exporting some 95% percent of its cattle hides and wet blue leather products. Central to this will be the L&HCAs groundbreaking Industry Sustainability Program that brings together partners from across the supply chain to promote best practice in manufacturing and championing the use of sustainable and high-quality leather in international markets.
Key to this will be the publication of the first comprehensive and independent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of U.S. cowhide production due to be released at the Economist Sustainability Summit in London in March 2024. The LCA is a data driven study that is expected to show a significantly smaller environmental footprint of leather than previous models. Brozyna commented:
“The textile industry is at a crossroads – as is the leather industry – where a firm commitment is required to solutions that are as good for the planet as they are for business. We must protect and grow international markets and educate stakeholders and consumers as to why slow style, for example, is preferrable to fast fashion.
“I am excited to support the industry in its rapid evolution and to capitalize on the opportunity for leather as a unique industry that consumes, rather than creates, waste. We provide answers to many challenges facing the textile industry and our planet today.”
Chad Robertson, Chair, Leather and Hide Council of America:
“Kerry brings real commercial know-how, brand and consumer insight and understanding of the leather industry. As such he is ideally positioned to lead the L&HCA as it works to influence the international industry and engage our commercial and consumer audiences.”


Lots of content and great energy from Lineapelle

Despite the complex economic situation, Lineapelle 103, held at Fiera Milano Rho from 20 to 22 February 2024, closed with a positive balance that opens up glimmers of confidence for the leather, luxury and design supply chain. As many as 25,376 sector operators (up on the February and September 2023 editions) who animated with their interest and search for novelty the stands of the 1,167 exhibitors at Lineapelle with their collections and projects for Spring-Summer 2025, characterised by strong innovative research and a clear propensity for diversification of markets, proposals and destinations. The influx of foreign operators was significant (39% of the total) with a prevalence of buyers from France, Spain, Germany, Great Britain, Turkey, the United States and China.
The vitality of Lineapelle 103 and its ability to open new horizons even in a particularly worrying market moment, found expression and (great) interest in all the contents that enriched the exhibition experience, starting with the success of the six Lineapelle Designers Edition fashion shows. Very positive feedback also for the first edition of Lineapelle Interiors/Leather Duets, a business culture exhibition that staged a sequence of installations, each of which was represented by an exclusive leather design project shared between a made-in-Italy leather manufacturer and a furniture company. There was also great involvement for In The Making Atto II (an interconnected and multidisciplinary space where visitors to Lineapelle were able to take part in a series of craft workshops using leather) and for the second edition of the Science Based Fashion Talks, opportunities for debate and sharing that aim to discover and define green strategies for the entire supply chain and that on this occasion dealt with topics of great topical interest for the sector such as deforestation, fashion sustainability, circularity, eco-design and decarbonisation.

Micro Lenzi, the new environmentally friendly textile reinforcement

Lenzi Egisto is sustainable from start to finish. In the sense that the Tuscan company was born with recycling in mind, and even today, after more than a century, its research and development has led it to bring to market a new environmentally conscious material that is in demand in the manufacturing world. But let’s go in order and start from the beginning, precisely.

In Prato, in 1898, Egisto Lenzi began his business of recovering noble fibers from discarded clothing. An activity that in our days we would call ‘virtuous fiber recycling’.

After a few years during which the recycled fibers were sold on the local market, he started his own fabric production business and the company’s first production nucleus came into being. Developments were rapid and, in 1936, it became necessary to increase production by adding the Vaiano production site, with a larger industrial area, where the headquarters and part of Lenzi Egisto’s production is still located today.

The production of ‘unconventional’ fabrics and the continuous search for innovative textile solutions began in the immediate postwar period. In the last thirty years, however, the great technological transformations that have taken place in the textile sector have allowed the consolidation of new business strategies, the search for innovative textile solutions in the fields of military clothing, protective textiles and functional fashion. Sometimes ‘visionary’ solutions, but which have confirmed Lenzi Egisto as a brand synonymous with quality textile innovation.

Lenzi’s research and development have always been aimed at proposing novel materials, developed to solve specific and concrete market demands.

As happened in the mid-1990s when Jacquard fabrics made with high-tech fibers were introduced, even among the big Fashion brands, which guaranteed resistance and functionality even to the fashion accessory while maintaining extremely ‘glamorous’ look and feel.

In the early 2000s Lenzi launched barrier fabrics for anti-puncture insoles in safety footwear, which could replace the uncomfortable and heavy steel sheets. Since then, the world of safety footwear has never been the same.

It was said that Lenzi Egisto is a sustainable company from start to finish. We come, then, if not to the end, to the present day. Today, LENZI has taken up the market demand to find a solution to the problem of leather reinforcements. Traditional microfiber reinforcements, produced by ‘aggressive’ chemical processes, are no longer acceptable.

“In order to propose a sustainable, environmentally friendly and zero-kilometer solution, we needed to be able to make an alternative product in-house, a textile material ‘coagulated’ without resins, which would remain clean when cut, resistant and compact during fleshing,” they tell in Lenzi Egisto. Thus MICRO LENZI was born, the new textile reinforcement that is the result of research conducted on innovative fibers that manage to remain cohesive without the need to use resins of any kind. A polyamide-based fibers of European production.

MICRO LENZI materials are entirely woven and finished in the factories in Vaiano, near Prato, Tuscany.

Micro Lenzi products, while resin-free and sustainable, are easy to use. They are suitable for bonding to leather, are trimmed without any problem, and can be fleshed out leaving a clean, fray-free edge, even with a raw cut.

It is available in three colors (White, Gray and Black) and in five weights to cover the various reinforcement needs of different types of leather.

UNIWORK offers a preview of the PERFORMANCE collection

Last October, Uniwork submitted to market scrutiny some prototypes of its new Performance line developed in partnership with Michelin, which will soon be industrialised and then marketed. A preview that allowed us to appreciate a top-of-the-range collection destined to satisfy the most demanding palates. Two lines: Urban and Hiking.

The Urban range is inspired by Michelin’s technical expertise with road tyres and includes a range of models named after the most important Formula One racing circuits: Melbourne, Imola, Monte Carlo, Silverstone, etc. The uppers are made of nylon plus crust or nubuck plus suede, the soles boast a soft PU midsole and a stylish Michelin HRO nitrile rubber tread for durability, grip and flexibility. The linings are highly breathable and the non-metallic laminae ‘anti-puncture zero’.

The Hiking line, on the other hand, takes its cue from the off-road world and proposes a more aggressive and sculpted tread inspired by the rally world, so much so that the models take their names from the most famous cars in these competitions such as Stratos, Delta, Impreza, etc. Added to the features of the previous line is the composite toe cap with a resistance of up to 200 J for robust, non-slip, hydrocarbon-resistant outdoor footwear.


Both lines will be EN ISO 20345 – 20347:2022 compliant and also available with ESD requirements.

Zago and the visitor’s parable on the construction site

A visitor entered the construction site where a cathedral was being built in the Middle Ages. He met a stonecutter and asked him: “What are you doing?”. The other replied grumpily: ‘Can’t you see, I’m sweating cutting stones’. Thus he showed that he considered that work unpleasant and worthless. The visitor passed on and met a second stone-cutter; he too asked this one what he was doing. “I am earning a living for myself and my family,” replied the worker in a calm tone, showing some satisfaction. The other went on again and found a third stonemason and asked him the same question. The latter answered joyfully: “I am building a cathedral”.

This is the story (taken from Roberto Assagioli’s ‘The Recipe of Happiness’) that Zago Moulds Solution, a leading Padua-based manufacturer of complex moulds for footwear, chose to emphasise their pride in contributing their work to the realisation of a greater work. In fact, only the third stonecutter understood the meaning and purpose of his work, which he performed with passion and enthusiasm. “As we often like to say at Zago, projects are not always simply what we expect them to be, projects are what they are; the way we experience them makes the difference. The way we design, think, choose, build, makes the difference,” reports Marina Zago, Marketing Director.


And again: “At Zago we try to remind ourselves every day, making PU injection moulds, that the shoe maker who entrusts us with one of his projects knows that at Zago we will not only comply with the necessary ISO standards and the functionality of the mould, but that we will also passionately embrace the moulding challenge of telling an emotion in footwear”.

Better than expected A+A 2023

Expectations on the eve of the event exceeded. The 2023 edition of A+A, the trade fair for occupational safety and health in Düsseldorf that took place from 24 to 27 October, closed after four days of intensive activity with record participation numbers.
With the leitmotif ‘Inspirations for a better working environment’, the German event fielded some 2,200 exhibiting companies from 58 nations who presented their innovations in 12 halls covering an area of more than 80,300 square metres. The attendance figures were also impressive: 62,000 trade visitors from 140 countries came to Düsseldorf to find out about the latest innovations in occupational safety.
According to a survey carried out by the organisers among the visitors, 96.4 per cent of them were satisfied with their visit to the fair. The comments we collected during the event, particularly among footwear exhibitors, were also positive about the great attractiveness of the event, which was often judged to have exceeded expectations. On the other hand, some criticism emerged as a result of the position changes imposed by the organisers in the redistribution of spaces in order to better segment the offer. In particular, some suppliers of materials, moulds and technologies for footwear complained that they were confined to pavilions that were too remote and far from the main entrances.
As for the exhibits on show, this edition of the fair focused on two of the most important megatrends of our time: digitalisation and sustainability. The innovations in the field of digitisation of the working environment, which were presented for the first time at the fair, were particularly noteworthy. Smart, wearable protective devices, ordering apps for hazardous materials management, artificial intelligence-based health coaches, as well as virtual reality applications and exoskeletons are examples of technologies driving the world of work towards a digital and sustainable economy.
Developments that not only support safety in the workplace, but also help to increase efficiency and create healthier working environments.
“This year’s A+A has addressed current issues and challenges, provided food for thought, demonstrated approaches to solutions and promoted personal exchange. We are delighted with the positive feedback and Page 2 of 3 would like to thank everyone for the trust they have placed in us,” summarises Lars Wismer, Director of A+A, and adds: “It was great to see how the trade fair as a platform inspires, connects and drives the industry forward.”
Various forums and interesting events such as the Corporate Fashion Show completed the varied trade fair programme. On the A+A catwalk, renowned PPE manufacturers presented the latest fashion trends designed for a generation of young people who, in addition to functionality and sustainability, also want to have aesthetically appealing garments and express their personal style.
The fair also hosted the 38th International Bases Congress on Occupational Safety and Health, which attracted some 3,000 delegates, addressing future topics such as artificial intelligence and the consequences of climate change. As a leading international specialist event, the Congress presented national and global policy advances and prevention strategies such as ‘Vision Zero’.
Also important was the WearRAcon Europe conference, the European edition of the WearRAcon conference in the USA, which took place for the first time at A+A 2023, during which R&D experts and companies presented and discussed innovations and trends in the field of exoskeleton technology.
The next edition is already planned, obviously in two years’ time: A+A 2025 will be held in Düsseldorf from 4 to 7 November.

Sneaknit, the unbeatable comfort of knitwear

Sneaknit uses advanced knitting technologies ensuring an eco-friendly approach. A key component of Sneaknit’s business model is in fact the use of recycled plastic yarns, which remove 5 to 15 plastic bottles from the environment for every pair of shoes produced. Great attention to the environment, therefore, but without ever forgetting the safety and comfort of users.
“Sneaknit uppers are designed to meet the strictest safety standards for each product category,” explain the Marche-based company, which was founded in 2019 and immediately became an important benchmark for the sector. The peculiarity of these products derives precisely from their construction using Knit technology. “Knit offers unbeatable comfort, enveloping the foot like a sock and adapting perfectly to natural movements, as well as the lightness and breathability that distinguishes it. This type of knitting not only reduces foot fatigue during long shifts, but also contributes to improved productivity and overall well-being for workers.”
The benefits of knit technology are so compelling that research continues unabated. “Recently,” Sneaknit reports, “we have developed new designs for S1 safety footwear, which include antistatic shoes with slip resistance on ceramic and steel surfaces. But also for the S2 category, which goes further, adding water absorption resistance. These features make our uppers an ideal choice to provide protection in a wide range of working environments, ensuring safety and comfort in every situation”.
Sustainability has always been at the core of Sneaknit’s philosophy. In fact, the uppers are made using Global Recycle Standard (GRS) certified recycled yarns. This not only reduces environmental impact, but also helps reduce dependence on virgin resources. The use of recycled materials is a significant step towards a more sustainable and responsible footwear industry.
“We at Sneaknit are always working to develop projects to improve the safety of work footwear. The aim is to combine cutting-edge technology, innovative materials and ergonomic design to offer increasingly effective solutions to the needs of workers all over the world,” conclude the company.

CITAZIONE ESPLOSA

“Knit offers unbeatable comfort, enveloping the foot like a sock and adapting perfectly to natural movements, as well as the lightness and breathability that distinguishes it.”

In the pictures, two recent models made with Sneaknit uppers

Bernardini Srl’s commitment to a sustainable future

Bernardini Srl has obtained ZDHC Level 3 certification according to the ICEC TS 420 technical specification. “We are proud of this result, which today allows us to preside over the market with even greater transparency, offering retailers and tanneries a further guarantee of the safety and quality of our products,” explains Ivano Bernardini, owner of the Arzignano-based company specialising in the production of chemical auxiliaries for the wet phase of tanning.
To date, 200 Bernardini chemical products have already been registered on ZDHC’s Chemical Gateway platform, which guarantees their compliance with ZDHC’s Roadmap to Zero (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals) programme, aimed to limit and eliminate the most hazardous chemicals, according to MRSL version 3.1 in order to promote safer chemistry while respecting and protecting the environment.
A challenging path, the one necessary to obtain Level 3 (the highest) conformity, which certifies the absence of hazardous substances in the products, but also their being state-of-the-art in all respects. “Paradoxically, this was the easiest part because we have always been committed to producing high-performance chemical auxiliaries using raw materials of natural and renewable origin as much as possible, as is also stated in the motto ‘Ecological Leather Chemicals’ combined with our company name,” explains Bernardini, assisted in the business by his sons Dimitri and Patrick, who represent the third family generation at the helm of this Veneto-based company that will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.
An important milestone, then, that comes at the end of a journey that began many years ago. Indeed, Bernardini has always believed in the importance of certifications, obtaining ISO 9001 for quality in 2005 and ISO 14001 for the environment in 2008. “The environmental certification obtained then helped us a lot in the path we are now on with ZDHC because at that time we equipped the new 5,000 square metre plant, where we still are today, to guarantee the utmost respect for the environment and the absolute safety of the workers,” concludes the Veneto entrepreneur.