Assopellettieri has a new president, elected July 25 by the members’ meeting: she is Claudia Sequi, 55, vice president of the family business, Pelletterie Claudia in Pontassieve, Florence. She takes the place of another Florentine entrepreneur, Franco Gabbrielli, at the helm of the Confindustria Moda member association from 2019. Claudia Sequi, the first woman at the top of Assopellettieri, had already been on the association’s general council for years. The program that the new president outlined to the members follows the line of her predecessor, focusing on training (the leather goods sector needs skilled labor that it does not find in the market), sustainability, internationalization, dialogue with institutions, and attention to both companies that work for brands and those that produce bags and wallets under their own brands or for distribution chains.
All of these topics,” a statement announced, “will be explored in depth during the “States General of Italian Leather Goods,” organized by Assopellettieri with Ambrosetti on Oct. 17 in Florence, an area that has now taken the lead in luxury leather goods. This is where the big brands have set up their bag factories or are building them (such as Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Tod’s, Louis Vuitton), and this is where the subcontractors who produce for them are concentrated.