Leather

THE LEATHER IN PONTE A EGOLA

Tuscany has a long tradition in tanning that for centuries master tanners have been handing down. In Ponte a Egola tanning has been an art since the midnineteenth century. The tanning business began in the mid '800 in Santa Croce and Ponte a Egola in the town of San Miniato. The birth of the first tanneries dates back to the mid-1800s, probably due to the abundance of water available . Since then the tanning business has grown steadily, until experiencing a real boom in the sixties of the twentieth century, which made Ponte a Egola one of the world's leading centers for the production of leather and vegetable tanned leather. Together with the neighboring towns of Santa Croce sull'Arno and Fucecchio, mainly specialized in the processing of chrome leather, Ponte a Egola is part of the Leather District. Given the general economic crisis at national and global level, the tanning business has suffered in Ponte a Egola too, even continuing to play a driving role in the economy of San Miniato with its tanneries and the myriad of companies related to industries. Environment and water treatment:

Sustainable development and sensitivity to environmental issues are the basis of today's tanning system. Today 98% of the pollutant load by companies in the area is cleaned in three centralized systems of the most advanced international level. Since 2001,in the district of leather, the Technological tanning Centre(POTECO) has been running the training, research and technological transference into the tanning sector through research projects in collaboration with universities, public research centers, service centers, local governments, businesses , industrial and trade associations.

The way of the shopping at…zero kilometers:

There are companies producing shoes and leather accessories at "zero kilometers", or "short chain", they say in agriculture. These products are entirely designed, manufactured, and sold in the territory of San Miniato which has in Ponte a Egola the Italian leather capital. Stylists and designers think and design the product, interpreting and anticipating fashion trends of the season, choosing the more suitable leather according to its characteristics. The tanning process is carried out in tanneries in Ponte a Egola. The master craftsmen perform necessary operations and give life to the finished product, a prestigious and quality product . The "vegetable tanning" as used in tanneries of Ponte a Egola is a process that arises from nature. The tanned leather so does not contain substances harmful to humans and the environment and is usually well tolerated by allergic people, thanks to the absence of synthetic products and heavy metals. Leather is preferred by stylist and creative designers who consider it a quality product at the top of fashion, chosen by designer labels for a high-end market. Among the brands that use vegetable tanned leather are Prada, Tod's, Ralph Lauren, Zanotta and B & B. The 'Consortium Genuine Italian Vegetable-Tanned Leather' was founded in 1994. In the consortium are 24 tanneries. Prestigious offices in New York, Tokyo, Paris, London and Florence were the backdrop to events that, over time, helped boost the prestige of the Made in Tuscany. The brand "Vegetable-Tanned Leather in Tuscany" made by Olivieri Toscani, guarantees the leathers produced by the member tanneries.