Gruppo Florence, Italy's first integrated production hub serving luxury brands globally, adds another important step to its growth path by entering the leather goods segment thanks to two Italian entrepreneurial excellences that complement each other: EFFEBI S.r.l., a company founded and run by the Lotti family and specialized in the production and processing of large leather goods, and A.L.B.A. S.r.l., founded in 1935 by Orlando Cocchi in the heart of Florence and specializing in handbags and other small leather accessories. ABC Ricami, a Pistoia-based company that perfectly combines the typical craftsmanship of embroidery with the use of state-of-the-art machinery, also joins the Group.
EFFEBI S.r.l. is the fruit of a seed cultivated with perseverance since the 1950s, when Asteno Bongini decided to open a small artisan workshop, which then established itself over the years in the production of own-brand items. In the 1980s his daughter Rossella Bongini together with her husband Massimo Lotti inherited the business, structuring it and transforming it into an industry benchmark for reliability and quality. In the year 1995 Ilenia Lotti, Massimo and Rossella's daughter, now development and commercial director, joined the company, an entrance that coincided with the choice to progressively put the know-how acquired at the disposal of high fashion brands, satisfying their every request for product development. Finally, in 2008, her son Jari Lotti, now CEO of EFFEBI S.r.l., also joined the company, holding for years the role of production management from the ordering and control of raw materials, following all the work phases up to the finished product. He remains with active role and absolute point of reference in the company Rossella Bongini, today administrative director, regarding quality control and logistics of the finished product. Today the company with its more than 70 employees and 190 thousand items per year, is able to design, develop and produce any type of bags for important international griffes with a high standard of quality and precision in meeting deliveries.
A.L.B.A S.r.l. is a company specializing in small leather goods and represents a perfect combination of tradition and innovation. Its history began in 1935, when Orlando Cocchi founded his workshop in the heart of Florence, then moved to Calenzano, where the current headquarters. Over the course of the three succeeding generations, the company has remained faithful to the Florentine tradition of leather processing, which has always been synonymous with quality, but has also made continuous investment and technological innovation its hallmark, recognized by prestigious international luxury brands. Today the company is led by Cinzia Cocchi, granddaughter of the founder. Thanks to a research and development team that is always attentive to monitoring technologies and using them to optimize production processes, A.L.B.A. S.r.l. is able to remain at the forefront of the industry. Currently, the company employs 70 people and operates in a plant of more than 2,000 square meters. In addition, an expansion of another 2,000 square meters dedicated to cutting, production and a relaxation area for employees is planned.
News also for the business unit dedicated to intermediate processing with the entry of ABC Ricami S.r.l., a Pistoia-based company with a strong family footprint that has been able to transform the creative idea into embroidery thanks to a perfect combination of technical skills, acquired over time, and the continuous updating on current fashions and trends, which allow it to propose avant-garde solutions. The company today led by the three siblings Massimo, Barbara and Drea, children of founder Raffaella Gelli, is seeing a moment of expansion with its more than 65 employees, a new plant of more than 5,000 square meters and more than 40 multi-head machines. ABC Ricami's Style Office is the company's driving force, where collections and sketches are created for brands and designers in the fashion world: unique projects destined for the clothing, leather goods and footwear sectors of the most important Italian and foreign maisons. ABC Ricami s.r.l. creates more than 200 sample collections each year with proposals that are always original and of high quality because embroidery is indeed a craftsmanship, an ancient manufacture, but it has been creatively reinterpreted over time, always maintaining the charm of the great craftsmanship of made in Italy. With the new additions, today Gruppo Florence has 26 manufacturing excellences who have embraced its project and innovative business model, which includes governance formed by all the entrepreneurial families who reinvest with a minority stake in the Group, becoming its shareholders.
Francesco Trapani, President of Gruppo Florence said, "Italy proves to be a fertile ground of excellent craftsmanship and manufacturing skills such as these latest jewels that have joined Gruppo Florence, an innovative platform that aggregates the best fashion manufacturers for the big luxury brands that today has nearly 30 companies that can work as a system creating constructive synergies and seizing important opportunities for further growth. Today we are a close-knit and heterogeneous network that can benefit from immense industrial and managerial expertise." Attila Kiss, CEO of Florence Group added, "With their family tradition, these companies, rich in history and know-how, fully reflect the values that underpin our philosophy: constancy in creating, generosity in passing on, a vision and thus foresight. I look up to the new generation with admiration and am proud that more and more companies are deciding to rely on Gruppo Florence to continue their development path and be able to offer their customers a sustainable product of the highest quality."
