‘Opere perse / Anthologica 1962 – 2024’ by Romano Masoni is the current exhibition at Villa Pacchiani marked by bourgeois ‘figures’ and drained ‘landscapes’ The anthological exhibition arrives at Villa Pacchiani the museum venue that Masoni directed for years after having been the most tenacious supporter of the destination of that building becoming the main meeting place for artists and intellectuals in the 1980s The exhibition can be visited until 27 April on Fridays Sign up for our Newsletter! How to join as a member Privacy | Note legali tips and exclusive itineraries in Florence Carnival is one of the most fun times of the year for young and old alike. Rice fritters and Florentine-style schiacciata sweeten the windows of pastry shops and the squares of Tuscan villages dress up to host parades Let's discover together the most beautiful carnivals in Tuscany From February 8 to March 4, parades of gigantic allegorical floats, performances, historical reenactments, music events, and art will once again take center stage at the Viareggio Carnival, one of Italy's most important carnivals. HERE all about the parades, guests, and events related to the Carnival. the charming medieval village of Foiano della Chiana (AR) will host the 486th edition of Italy’s oldest carnival featuring four grand allegorical floats made of papier-mâché by the Azzurri February 8: Official inauguration with exhibitions and cultural events including the presentation of the Carnival poster February 9: Opening of the workshops and the first parade of the floats from Piazza Matteotti (at 14:30) and a street food area offering local specialties Each weekend will be filled with various side events and entertainment for both adults and kids The carnival will also be streamed live with special guest appearances In the picturesque village of Castiglion Fibocchi (AR) the charm of the Carnevale dei Figli di Bocco returns an event that evokes Venetian allure with luxurious masks and baroque atmospheres the village transforms into an open-air stage animated by 200 participants dressed in precious costumes and papier-mâché masks surrounded by vibrant colors and nostalgic vibes The Carnival’s origins date back to the 12th century when nobles and commoners celebrated together during the traditional "festa de Carnesciale" the event was revived in 1997 and is now reaching its 28th edition in 2025 In addition to the spectacular masked parade the carnival will feature a rich program with street artists offering a journey through time filled with art The tradition of the Santa Croce sull’Arno Carnival dates back to 1928 when locals decided to dress up to brighten the gray winter days with countless handmade masks parading through the streets and squares of the historic center in a celebration of color and choreography The first parade will take place on February 16 when a carnival ball was held in a hotel hall the Carnevale Follonichese has been brightening the cold days of Follonica It gained significant momentum after World War II and later as the Carnevale Follonichese (named so in 1979) This carnival is a vibrant competition between allegorical floats representing different districts The event culminates at the end of the third parade with the bonfire of King Carnival a huge papier-mâché mask that marks the grand finale with a major new addition: the concluding parade will take place at night on Saturday starting at 16:30 and ending with a spectacular fireworks display February 9 (14:30): Second parade and Miss Carnevale election February 16 (14:30): Awards for the floats and the best ground costumes February 22 (16:30): Night parade with fireworksGrand Finale: The Fat Thursday ball (February 27) will close the celebrations with an evening of music and fun along the seafront On the Sundays of February 9, 16, 23, and March 2, the papier-mâché allegorical floats will make their way through the medieval towers of San Gimignano. This family-friendly event, filled with music, confetti, and streamers, is set against the charming backdrop of the medieval village (Here is everything you mustn't miss in San Gimignano) the much-anticipated Carnevale di Stia returns to Stia (Arezzo) for an unmissable celebration The historic parade will take place on February 22-23 and March 2-3 featuring the prestigious Maschera d’Oro competition Children participating in the contest will receive fun gadgets The allegorical floats parade through Piazza Tanucci starting at 14:00 The Carnevale Mugellano in Borgo San Lorenzo is set for the Sundays of February 9 exhibitions and highlights from 30 January to 5 February 2023 From the magic of Christmas to the winter sales here are the reasons to visit the city at this time of year Santa Croce sull’Arno is honored this year to host Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova Her show at Villa Pacchiani entitled “Animalier” curated by Ilaria Mariotti opens on Saturday “Animalier” is a continuation of the “Arte – Impresa – Territorio” Project that the Municipality of Santa Croce sull’Arno has been sponsoring for years now together with advocates from the worlds of business and culture The spotlight this year will be trained on Alpa S.p.A Developed together with Galleria Continua and Arte Continua Association perennially interested in the relationship between art and the territory and firmly convinced of the role played by artists in enabling new reading of the local economic and social fabric with contributions also from the Arti Contemporanee in Toscana Foundation the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art and the Santa Croce sull’Arno School District the project has been selected by the Toscanaincontemporanea call for projects once again in 2019 “This project that reached conclusion in just a few weeks is the herald of important observations,” affirms Mayor of Santa Croce sull’Arno “An artist from an environment entirely different from ours gained sudden awareness of the world of tanning in this way encountering a way of organizing the work and discovering a key to the reading of relationships between people encountering the metaphor that the final product offers as a key to the interpretation of the territory and its customs The result each edition of this ongoing project presents is fascinating and intense The artist Zhanna Kadyrova has been given total freedom to express her interpretation of Santa Croce sull’Arno “Animalier” is an invitation to abandon prejudice and discover our real authenticity Another one of the many issues our district needs to address is how to make our production ecologically sustainable Zhanna Kadyrova has risen to public and critical acclaim in the last ten years with her use of video She shifts styles and languages from one context to another placing the role of the spectator in question A significant part of her practice is dedicated to the study of materials and their continual re-invention and recovery and nature generates meanings regarding the spheres of politics and history Zhanna Kadyrova’s work was shown at this most recent edition of the Venice Biennial The show “Animalier” presents works unveiled expressly for this occasion The artist has been touring the territory for months then Dolmen (a project technical partner together with Silmont S.r.l) then the area’s various purification plants (Aquarno: Consorzio Depuratore Centro Recupero Cromo) before reaching the Po.Te.Co Tanning Technological Park The show focuses on our capacity for adaptation to present conditions on humans’ continuing need to rethink vanishing materials they will always need or desire Adopting reinvention as a principle of adaptation is becoming a necessity This holds trues also for the many animalier prints that imitate or reinvent the coats of animals no longer utilizable by humans (leopard In this exhibition for Santa Croce sull'Arno Zhanna Kadyrova uses art as a suspension of judgement Making costumes for animals out of a contemporary material obtained locally: leather Stretching reason and equilibrium to the breaking point through the principle of absurdity Inverting the roles of prey and predator in the animal food chain Addressing the myths of desire and the concepts of luxury Zhanna assumed the role of observer in her intention of rendering the complexity involved in our transformation of resources The artist was deeply impressed by the quantity of colors and patterns in which leather is available and surprising in terms of visual perception Another level of reflection is provided by the industrial system that adapts its production to modern needs regarding fashion and sustainability as well,” explains the show’s curator Serving as the exhibition’s principal partner Alpa is a company that has been providing the tanning industry with chemical products for over sixty years CEO Gloria Gualtieri illustrates the firm’s approach to the experience as follows: “Dialogue with Zhanna Kadyrova has led us to many discoveries her interpretation of our activity and daily research the craftsman’s knowledge and know-how essential to our type of work regenerate unexpectedly Finding effective solutions for the achievement of the artist’s poetic objectives and materials defines what we do every day knowing that the result is often unpredictable and extreme We see her vision of the territory – derived from what she saw of our company and way of working in a complex system - as utterly interesting and also the aspect linked to the responsibility every one of must assume in building our society’s future.” Municipality of Santa Croce sull’Arno Councilor for Cultural Institutions and Policy Elisa Bertelli emphasizes the Administration’s commitment to facilitating encounters between different types of culture: industrial culture and knowledge culture the culture of a people’s traditions and the culture that regards art and the meaning of human existence: “craftsmanship culture important questions regarding how we and our work are perceived in the present and future and the ways in which a community’s history entwine with international and global narratives The encounter of excellences from different sectors set unexpected outlooks in motion and lead to significant encounters and synergies This show will surely provide one and all with emotions,” Councilor Bertelli concludes Participation by the Firenze Fine Arts Academy and the Arti Contemporanee in Toscana Foundation Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art has led to the development of a diversified program of events and activities for the training of young artists and the education and involvement of students and the general public Ukraine in 1981 and lives and works in Kyiv Over the past years she has held solo exhibitions in Galleria Continua Havana and San Gimignano; Bureau for Cultural Translations She participated in collective exhibitions at: Garage 55th and 56th Venice Biennale; Badischer Kunstverein Platform for Cultural Initiatives and the Donetsk Museum of Modern Art In 2019 Kadyrova takes part in the International Exhibition of the 58th Venice Biennale curated by Ralph Rugoff Zhanna Kadyrova’s works are part of several public collections The Netherlands; Garage Museum of Contemporary Art Tonight, we may see two worlds collide Is this the end of the large sales areas as we knew them? But would they really want to go? Ready, set, bet! On this occasion, we spoke with street artist Davide Vavalà China focuses on in transit shopping From Instagram sponsorship to million-dollar ads In Italy, there are figures embodying this vision, yet the fashion industry continues to overlook them The example of four emerging brands that challenge convention The brand new leather good from the French fashion house in the colours of Indian summer Following in the footsteps of Léna Situations, Mister V, Amixem and Andie Ella, Squeezie is now launching his new brand From Dubai to Brignoles, the revenge of a forgotten fruit From those for the pope's funeral to those for the inauguration of a government, to simple toasts The US President's attempt to save Hollywood passes, not surprisingly, through duties Which promises to reveal the whole truth about the rapper's famous “parties” Between bad experiences and a few too many statements about Anna Wintour And why it is important to constantly update your bio While in Italy university graduates are seeking their fortune abroad, US researchers are fleeing from Trump From May the 2nd to 4th Its two co-founders tell us why you should apply to it Interview with Samuel Ross Interview with Willy Chavarria Interview with Louis Gabriel Nouchi Interview with Mowalola Interview with Marni’s Francesco Risso Interview with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac Interview with Byredo’s Ben Gorham Interview with Ottolinger Interview with Massimo Giorgetti Beyond the traditional realms of fashion The eight finalists tell their stories A record year at the competition for young designers in Trieste The Chinese designer debuted at Milan Fashion Week with the support of Dolce&Gabbana Fashion might have forgotten the art of fantasy, but the Shanghai-based designer hasn’t Interview with Hillary Taymour, founder and creative director of Collina Strada The collab between Napapijri and PDF by Domenico Formichetti was the first chapter of a new way of making fashion Interview with the PROTOTYPES Duo Y2K satire by Shukri Lawrence and Omar Braika in collaboration with Barragàn The Danish brand that questions contemporary manufacturing When personalisation and durability come together in your virtual dressing room, and not only an increasingly critical type of acquisition today as it gives the brand control over quality and sustainability processes Gucci is no stranger to investing in tanneries: in 2004 it formed a joint venture with Colonna to create the Blutonic tannery and acquired Luxury Tannery in Serbia and Caravel in Tuscany remain central to the brand’s expansion and consolidation strategy especially at a time when luxury is increasingly focused on sustainability and direct production control.  304 fashion sector companies ceased operations The most affected provinces are Florence and Pisa where the closure of historic businesses has become a worrying trend the number of registered companies dropped from 2,470 at the end of 2023 to 2,358 by mid-2024 Furlough hours have increased dramatically: in the leather sector authorized hours rose from 200,000 in 2023 to 400,000 in the first six months of 2024 This situation requires not only urgent and targeted interventions but also a rethinking of production chains with a long-term perspective that includes institutions Gucci positions itself as a leader in tackling the sector’s challenges since direct control of the supply chain ensures not only quality and sustainability but also support for the local economy and local craft cultures the response to the crisis cannot be left solely to major brands: more incisive industrial policies and adequate institutional support are needed to preserve a sector that represents an excellence of Made in Italy.  Get access to exclusive contents and keep yourself updated Get access to exclusive contents and keep yourself updated Select the topics in which you are interested: Every month a newsletter to receive updates from our creative media agency So you don't miss the chance to attend nss world events Every month the latest news from the French vertical of nss Prada Spring/Summer 2025 Womenswear campaign: Carey Mulligan Acts Like Prada PRADA GROUP ACQUIRES 43.65% OF TANNERY SUPERIOR S.P.A Nuti Ivo Group have recently switched on all the machinery in their new factory The tanning group opened it in Santa Croce sull’ Arno (Pisa): cutting-edge machinery will ensure a remarkable energy-saving and will also remove exceeding waste materials Here Nuti Ivo tannery will focus their manufacturing activity In a press release the tannery “told about their revolution” while also emphasizing that in the new plant they have installed 4 new automatic spray machines with Energy Saving (to control low pressure compressed air and emissions in the atmosphere) 2 diathermic oil ironing rotary-press machines one automated measuring tool and 3 rooms for drying Such advanced tools will be fully powered through a few photovoltaic panels placed on the roof positive effects on the environment are going to be immediate: in fact chemicals and water saving is due to account for 30% All you need to know about the leather industry LVMH Métiers d'Art is making a commitment to supporting the Masoni SpA tannery with long-term investments with the objective of consolidating its creativity and artesanal innovation as well as its entrepreneurial strength and international development," reads the joint release issued by the Tuscan company and the French group the deal makes provision for the maintenance of all current jobs at Masoni Fabrizio Masoni founded the company that bears his name in 2001 Today the tannery occupies a total of 10,500 square metres and produced some 600,000 square metres of leather in 2018 “In recent years and, above all, today, with everything that has happened and is happening, we need to be as close as possible to the reference customers. I would say that you have to be almost at a zero-kilometre distance from them”. These are the words of Giuliano Russo, CEO of the Marketing Area of ​​the tannery Russo di Casandrino which starts a whole new project in the Leather District “we face the current moment of profound change in the sector with great confidence and the desire to return to growth used to explain how the tannery Russo di Casandrino is “building a centre of over 500 square meters in the tanning epicentre of the Fashion System: Santa Croce sull’Arno” The Research Hub is configured as a “space for welcoming and discovering the history know-how and innovation of Russo di Casandrino” Inside it houses “a showroom and an archive” with the aim of “starting works projects and discussing new techniques and presenting new offers from our wide range” Service is an essential element – says Russo - attention to detail and proximity to style and research offices are values ​​in which we believe and on which this new important investment is based the Reaserch Hub also represents an investment in human capital It will be managed by a team composed of Martina Tabarroni to provide maximum support and a direct line with our production facilities throughout Italy” Russo di Casandrino has received from FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano) the recognition of Corporate Golden Donor for the contribution given to its activities is among the entities that have offered their patronage to Apriti Moda aims to open to the public those places that “preserve the art of Italian know-how” It will take place on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October and the rendering of the new Russo di Casandrino Research Hub in Santa Croce sull’Arno The acquisition was disclosed by Italy’s competition and markets authority (AGCM) in its latest weekly bulletin. AGCM has given the operation the green light, without revealing the value of the transaction.Contacted by FashionNetwork.com Gucci declined to provide any further information on the acquisition Gucci Logistica is a Kering-owned company active in the design The two parties have agreed to a five-year non-competition clause on the part of the Colonna group’s shareholders This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page We interviewed (as mentioned in the first lines of the text) Fabrizio Masoni The day we meet Fabrizio Masoni and his wife Federica is the first of the last edition of Lineapelle is about to sink into the drift of the Covid-19 emergency What is perceived upon entering the booth of their tannery achieved a turnover of 47 million euros last year A result that stems from a path of “continuous growth – explains Fabrizio Masoni – both in production and in turnover together with a whole host of other reasons led the Santa Croce sull’Arno tannery to sign a particularly significant agreement thus entering the capital of Masoni as a minority shareholder How was this operation born and in what direction “I am proud that LVMH asked me to enter our capital Proud that the company and our management are appreciated And I am proud of the growth project that we drew together for example by starting a new finishing in Castelfranco di Sotto in September which allows us to increase production by 30-40% It was highly appreciated by the LVMH group that we made this choice regardless of their entry into the capital” How does the business management model change now The autonomy of business management remains the same Our leathers will be sold to anyone who will give us the opportunity to use them in its collections which represent around 20% of our turnover to have special supplies in terms of price and quality while maintaining all our historical customers” Does the Masoni-LVMH “project” also concern sustainability I firmly believe that every company must find its dimension in this sense” we are developing a very important project It concerns enhancing the purchase of suitable products which go as far as the recent endowment for the company of an electric car fleet and they taught us that many small gestures A gesture of yours these days concerns the Coronavirus emergency: can you explain it to us “This situation impacts us now and will impact us in the future If only for the fact that we sell leather to those who All these customers sent the input to their production sites to slow down their stocks we need to work with a horizon that is no more than 6 months: at most it reaches 2 months This emergency depends on how long it lasts for now I have not limited the purchase of raw materials but I have temporarily reduced the dyeing and the final stages” “We have always needed a particular passion in tannery Every new leather you produce is a creature a customer you respect and who has experience and universal knowledge of the material and one of the reasons why I was very happy to start the synergy with LVMH lies in the fact that I love this job and I hope to pass on this way of being” How will tanneries change in the near future “In a 10 years time tanneries will be a completely different thing And they will be much less in terms of their number but the “real” ones will still make “the leather of great-grandparents” That is: the winning tanneries will be those that will focus on quality because there is never an end to low prices I have seen some of my competitors approaching customers with very low prices: in the end they hurt themselves having to guarantee various and high standards of compliance requires a cost and a company that does things well the entry of a partner like LVMH represents in this sense a great responsibility but also a great opportunity to invest in excellence” The company now known as Art Lab was first set up at the end of the 1990s while also experimenting with a variety of technologies to treat the material the company was transformed into a genuine art laboratory under the new name Art Lab It is now run by Marcello Tatoni’s two children and engineer Andrea Balleri.Art Lab is currently working for some of the world's top fashion labels and generates a revenue of approximately €5 million Art Lab’s unique asset is that it offers its clients a complete finishing cycle Integrations along the chain don’t appear to be stopping Zuma Pelli Pregiate group (headquartered in Castelfranco di Sotto) acquired Conceria Centrorettili This deal involves two leading enterprises specialized in tanning exotic hides that will join forces to unite their client portfolio “The acquisition was conducted because the amount of work done in the exotic leather segment is growing” of which the Casadacqua (Santa Croce) site is also a part types that both don’t require the CITES certification” Roberto Bachi, leader of the company for 38 years now, will remain Operative Director of Conceria Centrorettili “He will follow the clients and all internal labor” who was nominated CEO of the recently acquired tannery While “the currently operational employees will all remain” Zuma Pelli Pregiate (founded in 2017) has been controlled by investment fund Xenon and luxury cluster that is continuously expanding and was created from the merger between XPP Seven (Xenon) and Ambria Holding The growth of Minerva Hub is supporting the development of all companies that are part of it Prada Group acquires 43.65% of Conceria Superior foresees that the responsibility for the management of the Santa Croce sull’Arno-based company will remain with the current CEO Stefano Caponi (pictured right) “The entry into the share capital of Conceria Superior represents an important step in the path of vertical integration of the production chain,” commented Patrizio Bertelli “We are doing this by investing in infrastructures and people to increase our industrial know-how as well as to control quality along all the processing stages This operation will enable us to accelerate important issues such as the traceability of raw materials and the transparency of our supply chain” The relationship between Prada and Superior a tannery specialising in calfskin that has recently invested in process digitisation and a sustainable development plan the two partners jointly took over Mégisserie Hervy a tannery in Limoges that produces lambskin “We have always worked together,” Bertelli comments to CorrSera “At a certain point it seemed natural to seal this relationship We could have done it a couple of years ago it is a completion of the work carried out so far” What margins of autonomy will the Tuscan tannery have from now on it is not a problem if the companies of which we are partners also have relationships with our competitors,” replies Prada’s CEO “I find that the concept of absolute ownership does not make sense It is not in our interest that entrepreneurs become employees we want them to be able to express themselves at their best producing their products at the highest quality also for other customers’” An M&A transaction is not an act of colonisation “A partner must always feel ownership of the company he has created,” Bertelli concludes we must help them in what we know how to do in internationalisation rather than in the integration of sustainability in processes”