The Prada Group, one of the big names in luxury fashion with its industrial headquarters in Valvigna (in the municipality of Terranuova Bracciolini), is looking to the future. Prada drags the Tuscan fashion industry, and not only, towards an increase in quality, continuing to invest, hire, train. Between 2019 and 2021, the fashion group has invested 80 million euros and has planned as many (70 million) on the supply chain for 2022. Meanwhile, a new important investment is being planned on the Amiata (in Piancastagnaio) for 2023 and new partnerships are being sought for the footwear industry in the area between Empoli and Pisa.
Prada’s headquarters are in the Arezzo area, with branches in Scandicci and Amiata. They will be hiring a total of over 200 people in their plants this year and there arefurther development plans in Amiata: 15 people will be hired in 2022 and a major expansion project is planned for 2023. In Scandicci there will be 25 more people, about 150 in the province of Arezzo. Recruiting is constantly done also for new graduates, in particular in the functions of industrial headquarter.
In contrast to what Italian fashion houses have done so far, the Prada group is verticalizing production. In the last two years, the fashion brand has concentrated on bringing the production of footwear and leather assembly inside its factories, reducing the external network. 100% of material purchasing, leather cutting and quality control activities take place in their factories. There is a total control of raw materials and finished product. As far as bag assembly is concerned, the goal is to internalize production to reach 45-50% in the next 2-3 years.
Medium-sized Tuscan artisan companies are considered a great asset for large international fashion groups. There is a very high potential and there are suppliers who are increasingly becoming partners in industrial development and a guarantee of reliability.