DiMar Group – leather manufacturing for over 30 years
Ad| DiMar Group is one of the leading leather manufacturing companies in Italy with more than 30 years of experience. It was founded in the early 1980s, in the heart of Alta Tuscia, near Viterbo. Thanks to the professional union between Fabio Martinelli and Angelo Cionco, the company created a production system that instantly focused on quality, research, testing and compliance with delivery times.
In over 30 years, DiMar Group has become direct suppliers to the most important luxury brands, thanks to investments, technology and training, reaching 2000 bags per day. With the centre of human capital: the true corporate value.
I had the chance to talk to Fabio Martinelli, co-founder and co-owner of DiMar Group and Monteneri.
In 2015 Di.Mar Group launched the innovative platform Monteneri which is dedicated to fashion and design. Please tell us more about it.
We felt the need to make our contribution to the “Made in Italy”-system, focusing on development and research. For this reason, we have launched Monteneri, also with the aim to “combine traditional know-how, new technologies and contemporary design”.
Like a hub, Monteneri favours the experimentation and composition of unpublished workings and materials (leather combined with composite materials, wood, stones, metals) by investing in projects ranging from fashion to design, creating a constant confrontation between designer, artists and artisans.
Monteneri is also a line of leather goods inspired by the theme of travel; high-output products are made following traditional leather craft techniques combined with innovative technological processes.
Our line of handbags and small leather goods has the purpose of showing this all-Italian ability to create products that keep up the dialogue between the various people who know how to do it . Also, a collection of charms, are always the fruits of mingling different craftsmenship competences.
You offer various materials and techniques such as quilted leather, form moulding or edge dyeing. What are these techniques about and what other special techniques do you offer?
These are the best techniques of Italian craftsmanship. Quilting is a series of seams made on a leather layer that rest on several layers of padding. The ability is the accurate execution of each seam and the creation of unique geometric patterns. DiMar Group has also developed a series of automatic machines that make the final effect perfect.
Forming to shape, however, is an ancient technique that requires extreme manual skills with which to use a form of wood reproducing the shape of the purse that you want to create. There is no machine that can reproduce it. While the dyeing of the ribs (the edge of the skin) requires just as much mastery and delicacy: the ribs, in fact, must exhibit a roundness and a perfect uniformity without burring. Or even hand seams: different techniques and all with the respect for the best tradition.
Network is everything. Getting projects realized together is the future in many branches. You also realize this with former employees who sometimes become future Workshop-Partners. What is your intention behind it?
We wanted to create a real production chain. It was crucial to award our craftsmen responsibility and make them protagonists in the production process.
We have therefore, founded several production businesses, each specialized in the production of high-priced items. Thus, a network of partner ateliers and small trusted business owners associated with DiMar Group has been formed. It supports the entire system, allowing to follow each stage of production. That is why today we can boast two production centres, Valentano (in Lazio) and Campli (in Abruzzo) with a total of 600 employees, employed in all stages of the production chain.
Which role plays sustainability at Di.Mar Group?
It is no doubt that it is fundamental. As our vision reads, “We are pushing the tradition of craftsmanship Made in Italy through innovation and sustainability.”
In our work, the entire production chain operates in compliance with international standards SA 8000, which aim to recognize the value of corporate staff, respecting their autonomy and involving them in the company’s activities.
In addition, considering technological innovation as essential, DiMar Group continues to invest in new generation machineries. And at the same time the company is forming specialized personnel in using them and assimilating the Lean Production Toyota process. The aim is to enlarge all the employees’ responsibilities by bringing them to become an integral, proactive and decision-making part in solving problems and in future strategic choices. This makes us today, one of the most advanced manufacturers in the leather goods sector in Italy.
You are planning to establish the “Leather Corporate University”, a craftsmanship school. What will this be about and when is it going to start?
Yes, we always believe in training. And we do not stop investing in young people. That’s why we are laying the basis for founding a school for specialization, in which we create future leather workers together with carpenters, blacksmiths, marmists, metal experts and composite materials. We are working with local institutions and institutions to create a project that invests in manufacturing talents.
You can find more about DiMar Group and its leather manufacturing competences on the company’s website.
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