Conceria Nuvolari, leather in the metaverse

A recent research highlights how buyers, especially Generation Z, are spending more and more time online fascinated by new frontiers, such as the Metaverse. In March 2022, the first Metaverse Fashion Week took place, a four-day fashion show along with panel discussions in the virtual world, confirmed this new trend. Although the Metaverse is still at an early stage, its potential is huge. Sara Santori, Owner and CEO of Santori Pellami SpA, at the helm of Conceria Nuvolari since 2015, is exploring these new concepts and discovering how they can offer new inputs in terms of creativity in the tanning industry.
We had the opportunity to meet her at the latest edition of Lineapelle, the most important leather fair in Italy; as usual, we were delighted about her creativity and her ability to look forward.
Which projects have you focused on and what innovations have you introduced?
“In the innovation field, we refined the Skin Goat article, a product line for the clothing industry manufactured with hyper-breathable and natural materials. Regarding the Graphene Leather® line, which is highly “stress and scratch- resistant” and 99.99 percent antibacterial, we decided to improve our products for footwear and to test an innovative solution addressed to the automotive industry, widening what we had already started in the clothing environment.”
How did you improve it?
“We adapted the tanning recipes to new sectors. Given that these items have a different structure, they require a different concentration of chemical elements and products.”
You are approaching the automotive sector for the first time. What feedback did you receive?
“We had a good feedback and high demand. Our leathers are small sized, therefore they are designed to coat steering wheels, transmissions or side parts, where a strong resistance to wear and any kind of scratches is very important.”
Regarding sustainability, do you have any development to point out?
“Absolutely, research and development in terms of sustainability do never stop. The biggest evolution we made is related to the metal-free Natural-L line, which has been transformed into Natural-L Plus: the limit of 1,000 milligrams/kilo as required by regulations has been halved, bringing it down to 500 milligrams/kilo. In this way, we achieved an additional goal in reducing environmental impact. Talking about the original Natural-L we have introduced a new item, “Lavato”, addressed to footwear and sportswear. At the same time, we came up with a solution, created for leather goods, characterized by a very special texture, ideal for bags and backpacks. This metal-free item, Sherwood, is also degradable, compostable and carbon-neutral and is proposed in ten colors offering more opportunities in terms of use and style. Finally, we created another calfskin product, which we called Sky, a highly transparent abrasive”.
What about the footwear sector?
“It was essential to introduce the new winter line, with new colors of the Glass article, showcased at the last edition of Lineapelle: a kind of patent leather that, unlikely, is sustainable, made with special products that give a very special texture.”
I suppose this is having a great success…
“Absolutely, because of its shiny effect, although it is not made of plastic.”
What are you expecting after this long-awaited trade show event?
“The premises are positive; we noticed a lot of involvement at Micam and Mipel, but above all we noticed a strong response from visitors and customers as well. They were even calling us to supply new material to meet additional winter requests. For this reason, we were enthusiastic.”
However, there is much more. You are experimenting with new digital scenarios, including the Metaverse. Can you tell us what exactly this is all about?
“On the occasion of the September edition of Lineapelle, we introduced a preview of the Talking Leather project: a system that allows customers to access its history, verifying the traceability, thanks to special tags on the back of the leather and the Nuvolari Tannery app, developed for this purpose. On the other hand, regarding the new creative structures, we keep very much attention on the metaverse. In collaboration with DassùYAmoroso, a No-Gender Street-Punk brand designed by Stefano Dassù and Pasquale Amoroso – with whom we designed garments with our leathers last year, that were later on exhibited at the ADI Design Museum – we created a very special leather outfit: a padded warrior’s corsage, a remake of the costume of a character of a Metaverse game. This project, developed in partnership with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, took part in the Kia Designers Award 2022, resulting in some NFTs made of Conceria Nuvolari leather. We can definitely say, that Nature-L is the first leather sold in the Metaverse.

Sara Santori