Dribbling and Giano, two shoemakers located in Italy’s Marche district, have set up a new company to manage licensing agreements for the production and distribution of adults’ and children’s footwear. The first name in the new firm’s portfolio is La Martina, the Argentinian brand ranked number one in the world of technical polo equipment. The sales target for the first year has been set at €5 million.
The founders of the two Italian companies, respectively Roberto Vallasciani and Enrico Paniccià, are equal partners in the new firm, whose name – RE Licensing srl – combines the initials of their first names.
Dribbling-Industrie Vallasciani 1955 leads the children’s footwear sector in terms of number of licenses, producing 8 collections under 6 different brand names including Roberto Cavalli Devils, Roberto Cavalli Angels, Fiorucci Junior, Walt Disney and Giugiaro Junior, with 2005 sales up by 32 percent to €21 million.
Giano, founded in 1949 in Torre San Patrizio, is specialized in the production and distribution of its own brand of men’s and women’s footwear. It produces medium to high and top-end footwear in Italy, at its own production facilities and under contract with a local producer. Giano generated turnover of €4 million in 2005.
La Martina is well known for its apparel and accessory collections for professional polo, and while it recently launched its first collections of casual clothing, it had no equivalent footwear collections.
The La Martina license will run for a 5-year period, starting with Fall-Winter 06/07 for the adult lines and Spring-Summer 2007 for the children’s styles. The €5 million sales target for the first year includes the adults’ and junior lines, rising to €10 million by the 5th year of the agreement. The lines will be distributed in specialty stores throughout Europe, and produced entirely in Italy.
The two companies are currently negotiating other new licenses for adults’ and children’s footwear.