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/ Feb 2013FREE COPY

Three brands, each with its own specifi c features, that work in powerful synergy: Incas vegetable tanned leather, Il Veliero full chrome side calf, Italtan hair-on baby calf. The result is always lncas, the acronym for Iniziative Conciarie Associate (Associated Tannery Initiatives), with 190 employ-ees, a consolidated turnover of nearly 60 million euro in 2011, expectations of further growth by the end of the year, and nu-merous projects in the pipeline. Valter Ceccatelli, Chairman and managing director of the group, is a tanner who started his career in the rawhide business and loves looking ahead.“Steve Jobs said that people don’t know what they want until you tell them. I’ve made his saying my own. Another great manager, Domenico De Sole, formerly chairman of Gucci, said that the secret of success is to be several years ahead of the market. Iniziative Conciarie Associate strives to do just this: that is, to manufacture what customers need before they ask for it”. On the wall are all the certifi cates issued by ICEC, many of which numbered 001, which means they were the very fi rst to be issued. Ceccatelli has reason to be proud as he shows the Hi-Co process and product certifi cate, standing for High Contents, which is a metal-free leather for footwear, leather goods and apparel.“We created it on the basis of a specifi c request from an im-portant company in order to comply with the current more restrictive regulations in South-East Asia (South Korea) for “baby” apparel, convinced that the market would have re-warded us. And so it has. We therefore perfected an inno-vative process that meets the goals we had set ourselves: today it is the spearhead of our work which gives us great satisfaction”. The same can be said for Il Veliero, which has been on the market for 57 years and is one of the “noblest” creations in the Tuscan territory, with a tradition of fullness and

roundness of the skins that is now exalted by a new treatment entailing the application of recovered sulphide, described as the “hyper-protein line”. It is used for footwear, leather goods and apparel and today also for gloves, and has a growth po-tential that Ceccatelli estimates to be between 300% and 400%. ltaltan is the most recent luxury brand, created in 2001 and specialising in New Zealand calfskin of which the group is the leading world buyer, the most suitable for hair-on tanning and intended for this division, where by resorting to special greases and reducing the use of hydrogen peroxide, it is pos-sible to obtain a soft-touch fi nish with a superior shine, capa-ble of meeting the glove-making demands.Ceccatelli has been the head of lncas since January 1997, however he prefers to stay behind the scenes: “I don’t like playing boss. Here there are other partners (the Rosati and Rovini families, ed.), and well defi ned tasks, making us an open establishment subject to ongoing renovation and ex-pansion”. His manias include eco-sustainability, innovation, naturalness and continual investment. To maximise the results while containing as far as possible the use of factors in the name of economy and ecology: this is the bottom line guid-ing his decisions. He certainly hates waste. The offi ces are built partly with salvaged old instruments, lamps hang from the arms of staking machines or are inserted in old hot water pipes, the desks are obtained from the marble tables where the skins were once spread out, the panelling and fl ooring are made from wood that comes from the old drums used for vegetable tanning. “I never throw anything out. Then, every now and then I’m amazed at how beautiful some of the things I’ve found in the tannery can be”. He points to a sculp-ture standing outside the offi ces. “Doesn’t that look like an example of conceptual art? Actually, it’s a glazing machine”.

Enthusiastic innovationIncas, with its three brands (Incas, Il Veliero, Italtan), has a turnover of just

about 60 million euro. Valter Ceccatelli: “Our aim is to give customers what

they want but don’t yet know it”. First with Icec certifi cation.

Natural Re(e)volution

THE PROCESS CERTIFIED BY ICEC FOR THE PRODUCTION OF NATURAL METAL-FREE LEATHERS

Over the last 16 years he has turned Incas into a gem, well ahead of time, but he does not aim to break away from the ‘group’. “The district is a winning system, it creates benefi ts for everyone. For this reason, despite being the fi rst to head in certain directions, we still try to interact with the structures and entities that are somehow able to follow us. This applies both locally and nationally, especially when talking about cer-tifi cation. Whenever I launch an innovative line on the market and tell customers that it is certifi ed by a third-party body like ICEC, this arouses great interest: the brand obtains greater guarantees”. The positioning is high. “Our three divisions want to represent excellence. And we don’t stop here. The demand for luxury is very important all over the world, just like eco-sustainability: we must bear this in mind”. lncas doesn’t just depend exclusively on brands though: it has nearly a thousand customers, the most important (a foreign brand) does not exceed 10%, and direct and indirect exports ac-count for just on 90% of the turnover. They produce 60 - 70% of push lines that ensure a constant presence of leathers in varying colours and items in the warehouse, and 30-40% of pull lines that serve for offering greater tailoring to the fashion houses. Ultimately, the groups does not want to sacrifi ce foot-wear in order to devote itself to the more prestigious custom-ers; it makes an effort to rapidly deliver small quantities also to companies operating in the ready-to-wear sector which continue to produce in Europe.And then there’s the raw material sector, something that for-mer rawhide dealer Ceccatelli revels in. “We are fi nancially solid and this allows us to negotiate with suppliers in a rather privileged manner” he points out. The purchases, 90% in pelt, are not made based on sales but rather, on the company programme. “We’ve even reached the stage of treating the skins of animals yet to be born. It is necessary to do this in the globalisation era if we want to offer the guarantees the market demands”. The meaning of the word shortage is un-known at Incas, as one gathers when visiting the warehouse with vegetable-tanned leather ready for fi nishing (with three months’ production capacity stacked in the pallets).

LUXOR BB

Via Enrico Mattei, 11 - 56022 Castelfranco di Sotto (PI) Italia - Tel +39 0571 48 64 11 - info@iniziativeconciarieassociate.it

HIGH QUALITY LEATHER

SELLA

INCAS ITALTAN IL VELIERO

Valter Ceccatelli

NATURALNESS, ECO-SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION

HYPERPROTEIC LINESUPERIOR FULLNESS AND ROUNDNESS

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INCAS

Natural Re(e)volution

Hi-Co (High-Contents) is the ICEC-certifi ed process used by Incas to produce natural, metal-free leather, in full compliance with the strictest international norms for baby lines and environmental protection and in line with our ISO 14001 and EMAS certifi cations.

The Hi-Co process is characterized by the follow-ing elements:- The tanning stages are different than the stand-

ard plant-based processes.- The special treatment is carried out using natural

tanning extracts, without damaging the environ-ment and with the goal of obtaining an eco-sus-tainable product.

- The wet-tanning process, using the latest auto-mated lines, is entirely computer-controlled, in order to exert complete control over the produc-tion process while maintaining maximum quality standards.

- After the tanning phase, the hides are subjected to an accurate selection process based on size, thickness, wrinkling and quality.

- Over 60 different selection criteria are applied after the tanning process, to satisfy our clients’ demands for quality.

- Every step of the Hi-Co process is continuously monitored by INCAS technicians.

APPLICATIONSFootwear – Leather goods – Clothing

1972 marks the birth of a company destined to stand out in the fashion and luxury business. One that from the very beginning distinguished itself from the others by putting all its efforts in the production of vegetable tanned leathers in-stead of the more commonly available chrome tanned ones.

“DETERMINE THAT THE THING CAN AND SHALL BE DONE, AND THEN WE SHALL FIND THE WAY”Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, 1809-1865, Congress speech of 1848Incas shaped its destiny by always going against conven-tionalism. Strength came from trials and errors that pushed the company to constantly aim for better and higher results.

“I HAVE FAILED MANY TIMES, AND THAT’S WHY I AM A SUCCESS” Michael Jordan (1963 - )Most business sectors are facing diffi cult times. This has led us to invest more and innovate more, with a strong belief that only those who are convinced of succeeding will suc-ceed.

“IF YOU THINK YOU CAN DO A THING OR THINK YOU CAN’T DO A THING, YOU’RE RIGHT”. (attributed) Henry Ford (1863 - 1947) US automobile industrialistHI-CO - About a year ago, upon request of an important brand, INCAS (acronym for Iniziative Conciarie Associate – Associated Tanning Enterprises), developed metal-free leather for shoes, garments and leather goods, according to

the highest standards and regulations of the most demand-ing asian markets for “Baby” products.HI-CO, High Contents, has been certifi ed by ICEC, and is setting us apart as innovators in a line of products more and more sought by the best International brands.

The strong foundation of this project is based on: 20000 m2 of factory buildings, 190 employees, close to 60M Euro turnover in 2011, a state of the art computerized production control system through all the wet stage, constant upgrade of machinery to the best available technology, an almost 100% internal production supply chain, a state of the art laboratory for chemical and physical testing of leather and chemical products, and world leading suppliers of baby calf from New Zealand. Incas, together with Il Veliero and Italtan, is part of Iniziative Conciarie Associate, and forms a solid and perfectly bal-anced team of leather suppliers.Perception is very subjective, but all our future depends on it. This is very clear to us everyday, so we work to improve products and ourselves, believing the market will, as it al-ready has, recognize it.

“TWO MEN LOOK THROUGH A PRISON’S WINDOW BARS: ONE SEES THE MUD, THE OTHER SEES A STAR…”Dale Carnegie, american writer and teacher, 1888-1955

N. Ceccatelli

“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favourable”. Seneca the Younger, Roman dramatist, philosopher, & politician (5 BC - 65 AD)

IncasVegetable-tanned calfskin

EXCLUSIVE NATURAL SKINS

via Enrico Mattei, 11 56022 Castelfranco di Sotto (PI) - Italy+39 0571 48 64 11incas@incas.it

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ITALTAN

Don’t wait for the right chance… create it!

The huge stock of New Zealand baby calves in our ware-house at all times created the opportunity that became Italtan. Until then, we were best known for Incas’ vegeta-ble tanned calves, and Il Veliero’s full chrome range. It was time to enter the hair-on calf market.

“WINNERS DON’T DO DIFFERENT THINGS, THEY DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY.” (Shiv Khera - “You can win”)We kept in mind the guidelines of Iniziative Conciarie ASsociate as we created this new line of products: the naturalness, the eco-sustainability, the innovation, and, in this case, the brightness and vitality of the hair. Our item, “LUXOR BB” represents all this.

WHAT ARE THE PARTICULAR QUALITIES OF “LUXOR BB” AND WHY IS IT SO SUCCESSFUL AROUND THE WORLD?The hair brightness is beyond any other product in the market, and the hand feel is so soft that it is suitable for gloves. The prerequisites for this are: many subsequent selections of top grade calf skins with light hair color, highly industrialized procedures, specifi c fat liquors and an extremely limited use of Hydrogen Peroxide.

WHY IS LIMITED USE OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE SO IM-PORTANT?Hydrogen Peroxide destroys some levels of disulphide

bonds of the hair. These bonds are made by 2 atoms of Sulphur on adjacent chains of proteins: this is what gives the hair its three-dimensional stability. When Hydrogen Peroxide, attacks the disulphide bonds, a new molecule is produced in the hair, called Cysteic acid. The new mol-ecule does not have a covalent bond, and this weakens the structure of the hair. The hair then becomes very weak when dry, of lower quality and has a drier hand feel.

HOW DO WE OBTAIN THE GLOVING HAND FEEL ?The type of fat liquors used contain non-polar hydro-carbons that prevent the cohesion of skin fi bers during drying. This allows to obtain a soft, silky skin with a low specifi c weight. Skins that are processed in this manner are softer than the traditional skins, and require milder mechanical operations.

As George Bernard Shaw believed: “Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.”

N. Ceccatelli

Italtan is the idea that became a reality in early 2000 within INiziative Conciarie ASsociate.

ItaltanLuxury hair skins

LUXORY HAIR SKINS

via dei Tavi, 11 56022 Castelfranco di Sotto (PI) - Italy+39 0571 48 64 11italtan@italtan.it

LUXOR BB

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IL VELIERO

Il VelieroHyperproteic line with reduced ammine release

We put this brand in the spotlight as an absolute leader of chrome tanned calves, and side calves, in particular. We are being rewarded by results that are well beyond

our expectations. Il Veliero is not just a brand for us.It is a project, a “wind tunnel” that shapes our future, our approach to the world of fashion and of luxury leathers.

One brand, one history, one tradition: in 1955 passion gave birth to IL VELIERO, which today is a concrete real-ity, modern and booming.

It is limiting to label the potential of growth of Il Veliero, and its range of innovative products, but we named this range “Hyper-proteic”.The whole range of our leather is processed, from the very beginning, in the liming stage, with recycled baths of water, rich of Ammines, that give the fi nished leather characteristics of fullness and roundness that are not ob-tainable with standard procedures.How does this happen in detail?The derma structure (collagen) is composed by 19 Amino Acids containing the ammine group -NH2 and the Car-boxylic group –COOH.Traditional procedures have a very high concentration of Ammine in the bath at the end of the process. This signals that the skins have a high loss of organic con-tent, which will consequently make them more ‘empty’. We made extensive testing to prevent this by providing protein-rich recycled baths to the process under con-stant monitoring by our lab, which has concluded that skins going through our process do not release Ammine (protein content) as evidenced by standard procedures used in other tanneries.The practical consequence of the higher level of protein content left in our skins after our process is that our fi n-ished leather has a fuller, rounder hand feel compared to traditional procedures used in other tanneries.Currently, Il Veliero’s full chrome range is best known for its side calves (item Sella, fi rst and foremost), baby calves (both for garments and leather goods), and “Gloving” luxury line (i.e. item Cherie).Our range of items for garments is growing fast, quickly reaching impressive numbers.Having successfully introduced into the market the prod-ucts of our historic name Il Veliero, (italian for “The Clip-per”) we can proudly say: the ship is sailing the seas at full speed…

N. Ceccatelli

CHROMIUM-TANNED COW CALFSKIN

via I° Maggio, 22 56022 Castelfranco di Sotto (PI) - Italy+39 0571 47 23 5ilveliero@ilveliero.it

HYPERPROTEIC LINESUPERIOR FULLNESS AND ROUNDNESS