Cuoio di Toscana consortium renews collaboration with Thebe Magugu

By

Gianluca Bolelli

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Oct 12, 2022

Cuoio di Toscana, a tannery consortium based near Pisa, in Tuscany, is keen to provide continuing support to emerging designers. For the Cuoio di Toscana Prize, introduced at the last edition of Milan Fashion Week, the consortium picked South African designer Thebe Magugu, and was alongside him on October 7, at the Fashion in Motion Series event held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, where Magugu unveiled highlights of his ‘Discard Theory’ collection, featuring leather accessories and footwear labelled Thebe Magugu x Cuoio di Toscana.

The collection’s baguette bag is available in various colours, as are the strapped mules with distinctive green soles, a testament to the company's values and to Italian manufacturing.

The leather for the soles of the Discard Theory collection’s shoes is made using a slow plant-based vat tanning process, an ancient method that employs natural tannins derived from chestnut, mimosa and quebracho wood. The raw hides are transformed into first-rate leather, recognised worldwide as natural, plastic-free, recyclable and 100% eco-friendly, as Cuoio di Toscana stated in a press release.

This is the second time that CdT has collaborated with Magugu, after they teamed up for his menswear debut with a collection presented at the Pitti Uomo 100 trade show, where he was Special Guest Designer. Magugu, 29, is an award-winning designer for whom fashion is a means to inform and tell stories. He won the LVMH Award in 2019, and since then he has been appreciated for his ability to connect codes from a variety of cultures, reinterpreting them in a contemporary style.
 
CdT was set up in 1985 as a consortium of seven tanneries operating around San Miniato and Santa Croce sull'Arno in the province of Pisa, Tuscany. Its mission is to promote the use of leather in shoe soles, combining an emphasis on artisanal heritage with sustainability and traceability practices. CdT member companies operate according to strict environmental protection standards relating to the entire supply chain, from animal welfare to water purification, solid waste recycling and the use of energy from renewable sources.

CdT can now be regarded as a global leader in shoe sole leather, with a 98% market share in Italy and one of over 80% in Europe. The consortium comprises the following companies: Bonistalli and Stefanelli Spa, both from Santa Croce sull’Arno, and Gruppo Conciario CMC International SpA, Conceria Gi-Elle-Emme SpA, Cuoificio Otello, Lamonti Cuoio SpA, Conceria 3S Srl and Volpi Concerie Srl, all located in Ponte a Egola, near San Miniato. By the end of 2022, the seven companies are expected to generate a combined revenue of approximately €170 million, 60% of which on export markets, notably Spain and Portugal.