“The production model is changing”. “Our factories need to be totally rethought”. ‘There is a need for a new model’. Suppliers no longer exist; there are ‘interlocutors with whom to develop a project’. Welcome to a supply chain that, inevitably, must reorganise itself, as many are already doing. This is how
by Maria Vittoria Galeazzi
Absolute flexibility, speed, fragmentation, co-design. High-end fashion is changing its production model, and the supply chain has to reorganise itself. In recent years, the relationship between brands and suppliers has been transformed: those who supply materials or carry out work along the supply chain are entrusted with part of the product development. Luxury brands increasingly rely on the expertise of their suppliers, from whom they receive (on request, of course) stylistic input, innovative proposals, and technical solutions. All this is on an increasingly reduced volumetric basis, and the segmentation of orders is growing in the opposite direction.
Absolute flexibility
“The production model is changing. We are used to working for volume, but the risk is that we will find ourselves working only for value, says Daniele Gualdani, CEO of LEM, a company active in the treatment of metal accessories for luxury and high fashion. ‘Our factories need to be totally rethought. Volumes have decreased, and work is super fragmented. Everyone talks about flexibility, but this demand sometimes reaches disorganisation madness and anti-scheduling. A new model is needed. The fashion supply chain needs to organise itself in a structured way, considering the supplier as an industrial concept and not just an artisan one.
Speed and innovation
“We make samples as espresso as coffee,” read a panel displayed at Lineapelle 105 (Fiera Milano Rho 25 – 27 February 2025) on the Giglioli stand, a company specialising in quilts and embroidery on both fabric and leather, for clothing and leather goods. “We are very fast in the realisation of work,” explains the owner, Massimo Giglioli. “The fragmentation of work has been there for a long time, what has worsened in the last year is the timing. They are asking us for innovation and research, but with the lead times of standard products’. The company has, therefore, made speed its hallmark. “Sales in the luxury sector have decreased, so we try to put more models and more input in the shop to stimulate the consumer. Hence, there are smaller orders but new things all the time. ‘But without planning and without time, you become fast fashion,’ he points out.
Co-design
There is also evidence of increased customer assistance in product development for the tanneries. “There are brands that give us a development to do according to the indications of their style office,” they tell us from Conceria Sciarada. Others look to us for guidance and inspiration’. The tanning company has created an ad hoc space to support the brands in their creative work. “Besides the showroom, where we show the current collection, we also have an area with an archive where customers can do research”. Conceria Stefania also confirms this trend: “We are no longer just suppliers. Brands look to the tannery as an interlocutor with whom they can develop a project‘.
Craftsmen or industry?
The ideal interlocutors for luxury brands are structured companies that can respond to requests quickly and flexibly. Suppliers are required to have the requirements of an industry but with the flexibility of a craft company. “On average, they come to us for development and research and immediately find the idea to go into prototyping. Or they give us input to process,’ says Paolo Squarcini of David Leather. ‘We do a lot of innovation. We have a fragmentation of work almost like artisans, but with, potentially, the reproducibility of an industry’.
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