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Chanel acquires Italian knitwear business Paima
Chanel is continuing to shop the artisanal excellence of Italy. The French luxury brand “has taken a majority stake in the knitwear business Paima, located near Ancona,” the brand told FashionNetwork.com, without specifying the total investment amount or exact size of the stake.
“This decision was motivated by converging interests; as Paima has seen its development accelerate in recent years, it appears opportune to be able to rely on a solid partner which can help it to grow and invest,” Chanel said in a statement. “For Chanel, this partnership aims to support a sector which is essential both for its own activity and that of the luxury industry as a whole.”
“This investment offers a more lasting framework for collaboration while being part of the continuity of an already established relationship,” said Chanel. “In accordance with Chanel’s strategy in this type of operation, Paima will continue to collaborate with all of its customers.
Paima originated as a knitting factory in 1963 run by the Marabini family. Located in Osimo in the Marche region of central Italy, the business has evolved by combining technology and craftsmanship through setting up an avant-garde structure. For third party businesses, Paima produces knitwear for women and men from various yarns including wool, cashmere, and cotton.
“Setting the benchmark in its field, Paima has been able to create a real ecosystem in a territory which is not traditionally a knitting area,” said Chanel. With its investment, Chanel will enable the business, “to develop training for young people in its related skills and support its network of partners with which it works.”
Paima is the fifth Italian business to enter into the fold of Chanel in the past two years. Last year in particular, Chanel invested in the footwear manufacturer Ballin, the tannery Conceria Gaiera Giovanni (which specialises in the transformation and treatment of kid, lamb, and calf skins), and the Piedmont-based fancy yarn manufacturer Vimar 1991, which has joined Chanel’s subsidiary ‘Paraffection’ which is designed to bring together businesses and knowledge relating to arts and crafts. In July 2019, the group took a majority stake in the ‘Samanta’ tannery, a specialist in printed and embossed leathers.
In other latest news from Chanel, the brand’s new ready-to-wear collection for summer 2022 is expected this autumn at Paris Fashion Week while the brand will fly to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on November 2 to present its cruise collection for 2021/2022, unveiled in May at the Carrières de Lumières in the French village Baux-de-Provence. This will be Chanel’s second show in Dubai to date, seven years after its presentation in May 2014 for its 2014/2015 cruise collection.
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