For once, at least, it’s hard to blame Ben Gvirultra-Orthodox exponent, Minister of National Security of Israel. When, at the beginning of June, the Rome Prosecutor’s Office investigated him for the alleged violence against the Italians of the Flotilla, he replied: “Italy, the country of the boot, has become the country of slippers.” He laughed out loud, but he doesn’t know he’s stating the obvious.
Italians have always made shoes for the world. The Venetians and Florentines began in the thirteenth century. In particular, the latter took advantage of Etruscan tanning (even today it is the most sought after) which revived the district of Santa Croce sull’Arnoone of the most important in the world. It involves treating the “salted” hides, as raw hides are called, with vegetable tannins instead of chromium. There is everything you need there: the water of the Arno, the chestnut and oak forests for tannins and, if desired, even the “groma” of exhausted wine barrels. It seems like a joke, but in Santa Croce (despite the fashion crisis which has depressed income by almost 40 percent) turnover still amounts to over one and a half billion euros, divided between 350 companies that employ just under 6 thousand people. Even the colors were fixed, and still are fixed, with alum as a mordant, both on cloths and on leathers. The Lucumoni people (the upper class of Etruscan society) did it, but the Chinese who tan at rock-bottom prices – and in almost gulag-like environmental and working conditions – are not capable of it.
From the seats of supercars to the halls of global power
This is why the dashboards and seats of Bentley And Rolls RoyceOf Ferrari And Lamborghinis they are made in Tolentino, in the Macerata area, another leather goods district which had its peak of fame with Nazareno Gabrielli, but which means the most sought after leather furnishings in the world: just to mention a model, the Chesterfield sofas, Chester for friends, by Frau which furnish the palaces of the emirs, the halls of the Kremlin such as the White House and the Berlaymont palace in Brussels, made with the skins of Santa Croce or Vicenza.
If Tuscany is the historic district, the economic engine of leather goods is in Veneto, with Arzignano as capital. Around 50 percent of Italian leather is produced along the Chiampo valley – here the specialization is that of large pieces – with a truly integrated circular economy (leather goods machines are also created in these latitudes). Arzignano & C. have a turnover, just for tanning, which is around 2.7 billion euros which are added to the billion and a half of another hyper-specialized district for leather, that of Campania, which has its “summit” in Solofrain the Avellino area. Small skins (sheep, game) are mainly processed there. Overall, tanning employs over 17 thousand workers in 877 companies, for one annual turnover exceeding 5 billion euros (67 percent destined for export).
The thorns of Brussels between CSDDD directive and environmental constraints
As always happens, in Italy we are 90 percent dependent on imported raw materials, but this does not prevent us from holding almost a third of the world production of processing, despite countries with far fewer environmental constraints and less respect for working conditions – such as China, Brazil and India – ruthlessly competing with us based exclusively on price.
Here too, Europe’s ballast is felt due to three factors. The first is the environmental costs, the second is the trade agreements that Ursula von der Leyen it went by signing. Parenthesis: the partnerships with India and China and Mercosur with Brazil have not imposed safeguard and reciprocity clauses on foreign products invading Europe. The only defense our industry has – and we must agree with Ben Gvir on this – is the highest quality.
Finally, the third reason that weighs on this sector – including footwear and processed leather goods – are absurd rules such as the Csddd directive (Corporate sustainability due diligence directive) which obliges companies to certify the entire supply chain. Obviously, when working with imported leather, it is very difficult to establish the origin of the raw material but the EU demands it, just as it continues not to give up on Ets systemthe emissions ceiling mechanism, which “eats” companies’ operating margins.
The expansion of the Italian shoe factory and the Middle Eastern market
However, starting from the mid-nineteenth century, the Belpaese conquered the world thanks to this primacy: with the district of They livedthe first industrial shoe factories arose there, then with the one in the Marche region, powered by the leathers of one of the most important boar forums of that era: Macerata. They resist and there are very precious shoe and niche hubs such as the one in Florence – Gucci, Ferragamo, Prada to name a few – and in Valdarno, such as the very pop one in Campania and the very active one in the mass markets of the Rubicone in Romagna.
What makes our local proposal unique is the catalogue: very extensive. They range from sneakers to 18 inch heels for Hollywood. American VIPs only wear local soles. And also, or above all, the Russian ones, sanctions permitting. Because this is also a characteristic that makes the Italian shoe factory completely inimitable: making shoes by adapting to the anatomy and culture of the customers. What Ben Gvir doesn’t know is that the country makes almost 450 million slippers a year and it escapes him that one in ten Israelis wears Italian shoes because I pour Tel Aviv we ship around 650 thousand pairs for almost 34 million euros, with an average price of 54 euros per pair.
After all, the Middle East is a market, despite the wars, which continues to give the Italian shoe good satisfaction: it is worth more or less 6.5 percent of our foreign sales, put together with just over four million pairs at the average price of 130 euros, for a total revenue that well exceeds half a billion euros (up 8.3 percent compared to 2024). As he says Giovanna Ceolinipresident of Micamthe most important trade fair in the world, and at the top of Assocalzaturifici: «We have gone through four crises and, despite this, we remain one of the most dynamic sectors of Made in Italy». How is this possible? He explains it like this: «Imagine that a size 12 heel is able to support a lady of good weight only through the ingenuity of the women and men who work in footwear: they are engineers without a degree who make quality and creativity the highest possible value». It is so true that we asked UNESCO to declare the made in Italy shoe a World Heritage Site. Professor Per Luigi Petrillo, president of the Body of World Experts of the UNESCO Convention for Intangible Cultural Heritage, is already working on the dossier.
The Marche laboratory between tailor-made masters and industrial giants
If you think about it, the Marche district encompasses all facets of the world of footwear. There are “cobblers” like Silvano Lattanzi which dresses the feet of celebrities all over the world. His brand Zintala is absolute luxury. At most it makes 2,000 pairs a year and builds them directly on the customer’s foot. In his laboratory there is a true museum of those who make the world move. The cost? It easily goes over 10 thousand euros per pair.
And then there are business models like that of Diego Della Valle (and also Andrea), which they did Tod’s a global icon selling ready-to-wear luxury, but continuously investing in the area – for example by opening a factory in Arquata del Tronto, devastated by the earthquake, immediately after the 2016 earthquake. Furthermore, there are variations of stylistic features such as Santoni or Loriblu, or ingenuities such as the legendary Naturino for children.
All this means – according to the Marche sector, which however covers four fifths of national production – 3,800 companies (90 percent between the provinces of Macerata and Fermo) for almost 13 billion euros in turnover and an armature that multiplies the value by two. 70 percent of this turnover is made abroad but – last year alone – 5.7 percent was lost. Sanctions on Russia (another gift from the EU) and Trump’s tariffs weigh heavily.
And yet, with all due respect to Ben Gvir, between Casette d’Ete and Monturano, Italy continues to lead the way in the world.
