It is called Lineapelle Interiors and it is the new project debuting with Lineapelle 103, scheduled to take place at Fiera Milano Rho from 20 to 22 February 2024, aimed at promoting and enhancing Italian leather in interior design through styling and product development actions, activating collaborative connections with the world of Italian and international design and architecture.

The first of these actions is Leather Duets, a business culture exhibition that, inside Pavilion 24, stages a sequence of installations, each of which presents the realisation of an exclusive leather design project shared between a Made in Italy leather manufacturer and an interior design company. A path linked by a thematic fil rouge, which leads the semi-finished product to become international excellence, passing through its transformation into a high-end finished product.

“With this new project,” comments Fulvia Bacchi, CEO of Lineapelle, “dedicated to interior design, Lineapelle creates an area of strong and engaging attraction, to explore the value of Italian leather and hide in areas other than those more closely related to fashion, for which, however, they are confirmed in the role of reference materials. Lineapelle Interiors is an opportunity to open up new creative and market horizons”.

“We believe that there are, as far as made in Italy leather is concerned, vast application areas that have so far remained unexplored or not properly expressed for the interior design sector,. This project represents the set of actions aimed at launching possible futures towards the Design Economy, implementing international involvement and activating business development opportunities.”

Maurizio Molini, artistic director of Lineapelle Interiors

The protagonists of Leather Duets are: Manifattura di Domodossola/Nalesso with the installation: A vida è a arte do encontro, Accoppiature Mistral /Mantellassi 1926 with Bonjour élégance, Conceria Gaiera Giovanni/ Cierreesse with Inspirational icons, Conceria Montebello/Studioart with Tribal gatherings, Gruppo Mastrotto /Kreoo with The warm touch of the stone.

The new year opened under good prospects, at least on the foreign market front, judging by the attendance figures of the first scheduled event dedicated to high-end and luxury fashion for men. Pitti Immagine Uomo, in fact, staged at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence from January 9 to 12, 2024, registered an increase compared to January 2023 in the number of foreign buyers by 4 percent and by almost 6 percent in terms of points of sale. The Italian figure, on the other hand, was down slightly, a circumstance that was widely expected given the slowdowns in our domestic market, especially recorded in the last three or four months. . The final figure of buyer-only turnouts reached 13,000, with foreigners around 4,700.

The top 20 countries in order of attendance were: Germany, Holland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, France, Japan, the United States, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Greece, China, South Korea, Portugal, Russia, Poland, Canada, Denmark and Sweden.

All the main foreign markets were up-with double-digit performances for Germany, France, the United States, and Belgium-and of particular note was the steady recovery of the main Asian markets-Japan, South Korea, Mainland China, and China Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and other emerging markets. “If the men’s fashion system had to beat the drum right away in this start of 2024,” commented Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine, “really positive messages came from Pitti Uomo No. 105: in the pavilions, among the stands, in the city, at the special events, here in Florence we registered a widespread, great energy – also the result of the warm personal interactions that are established when an international community of interests and culture comes together in spatial and temporal unity – and together, the will of all the operators to focus on the factors considered decisive for success in the markets. I am referring to the quality of the collections and the commitment of the companies to add stylistic and/or material novelties each season in tune with new consumer trends; to the ability on the part of the best retailers and buyers to select orders according to curatorial logic that integrates-without subordinating-with commercial needs, thus giving opportunity and visibility to experimentation, new generations, and fashion research.”

The special events of this edition received great attention and participation. Among the many on the program were the runway shows of Guest Designers Magliano and SS Daley, Todd Snyder’s designer showcase, Achilles Ion Gabriel’s absolute debut, the special immersive installation celebrating Guess Jeans at the Teatro del Maggio, the launch of the Tod’s and Automobili Lamborghini collaboration-along with the numerous special projects and international participations at the Fortezza, including NEUDEUTSCH curated by Julian Daynov, which turned the spotlight on the new creative scene from Germany, and the Velvet Mi Amor installation and book dedicated to velvet.

A neologism as a key word: GREATIFY. A word built on the adjective great and the suffix “ify”, used with nouns and adjectives to form verbs containing the concept of “doing” or “becoming”. Because this is exactly what trade fairs are: the place of excellence for opening up new markets, developing business and above all representing trends, those of the market to come.

It is precisely on the values of innovation and excellence that the synergy between the 6 trade fairs in the world of fashion is founded and with which it proceeds. For this February edition too, they join forces and present themselves to the market all together. They are MICAM, the International Footwear Exhibition, MIPEL, the International Exhibition dedicated to leather goods and fashion accessories, THEONEMILANO, the Outerwear and Haute à-Porter Exhibition, LINEAPELLE, the International exhibition dedicated to the leather, accessories, components, synthetics, fabrics and samples for footwear, leather goods, clothing and furnishings sectors, MILANO FASHION&JEWELS, the event dedicated to the excellence of bijoux, jewellery and fashion accessories – and they are the sounding board for 2.951 brands and fashion trends that, in the specificity of the different sectors, have common guidelines. Added to them, within the context of Lineapelle, is the promotional area of SIMAC TANNING TECH, the landmark exhibition for the footwear, leather goods and tanning technology sector that will be held in September 2024 with over 300 exhibitors.

But apart from all the novelties that will characterise the various events, what is the state of health of the market? For Fulvia Bacchi:

“the moment is so tragic at the business level that there is concern not so much for trade fair visits as for the volume of orders. We expect a recovery for the second half of the year.”

Ceolini:

“The sales did not go well and the strategy of producing more to avoid the excessive increase in raw material prices, adopted by many last year, did not pay off. We are confident, however, in an increase in purchases with the aim of moving the market, although orders will undoubtedly be more prudent”.

Lastly, the important response, in terms of pre-registrations, from buyers from Italy and the various markets should be noted: as far as the international market is concerned, the best performances from European countries come from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Spain; the interest of more distant countries such as South Korea, Japan, the USA and Kazakhstan is also significant.