Wednesday, July 24, 2019 - 17:47English

The assignment of duties and responsibilities to the Deputy Chairmen was the first step towards the implementation of the new projects in a sector that is constantly evolving

Siro Badon’s term as Chairman of Assocalzaturifici for the years 2019-2023 was consolidated today with the assignment of the powers to his new Deputy Chairmen. This step means the executive board supporting the new Chairman at the helm of the Association is now fully operational.

As highlighted by Badon in his inaugural address, the cornerstones of the Association's activities in the coming years will be Italian manufacturing, innovation in the sector, sustainability of the production cycle, as well as a focus on trade fairs and a close dialogue with institutions. In accordance with this vision and the articles of association, the Chairman will be responsible for all institutional activities, in particular those involving Confindustria Moda and Confindustria, aside from supervising the organisation of MICAM, an event which is increasingly central to the policies for promoting business in the sector at an international level.

The assignment of the powers to Deputy Chairmen (Federico Bartoli for Training; Giovanna Ceolini for Europe; Pasquale della Pia for digitalisation and sustainability; Salina Ferretti for Asia, America, Seoul, Tokyo and children’s footwear; Giampietro Melchiorri for Russia and the former CIS bloc countries and Emerging Countries) will make it possible to implement the course of action expressed by the Chairman and agreed with the Meeting of Shareholders, while identifying the individuals that will be responsible for the Association’s activities. 

In particular:

FEDERICO BARTOLI of the company Tiger Flex Srl (Monsummano Terme, Potenza) will be responsible for training: this is a strategic area for the competitiveness of Italian footwear. It is essential, on the one hand, for updating producers on the new technologies that are available in sector, and on the other for creating new skills and welcoming on board new generations of workers in each phase of the production process.

Federico Bartoli, class of 1974, represents the third generation of the family which founded the company Tiger Flex in 1952. Federico Bartoli has been working in the company’s historic factory in Monsummano, characterised by the iconic Tiger on the roof, since 1998, and was around to witness the event which changed the face of the whole sector in 2002, with the acquisition of the shoe factory by the Kering-Gucci group. He has been production director since 2008. As he sees it there are three essential components in work: excellence, efficiency and passion.

Federico Bartoli has held important posts in Confindustria Northern Tuscany since 2014, as chairman of the leather and footwear section, where the first point of his policy programme concerned training.

This is an aspect Bartoli has always been very attentive and sensitive to, as he was one of the creators of the Project "E' di moda il mio futuro", a venture by the fashion department of Confindustria Northern Tuscany that aimed to increase awareness with youngsters of the employment opportunities in the textile, clothing and footwear sectors.

GIOVANNA CEOLINI of the company Parabiago Collezioni Srl (Parabiago, Milan) will be responsible for activities linked to the market in Europe, those relating to the Industry Trade Fairs Committee for the organisation of the Moda Made in Italy event, for leather and accessories, which is promoted by Assocalzaturifici and held every six months in Munich. This will establish the Association's presence in the European market, which is fundamental for Italian companies, and in terms of protecting them in the context of trade fair events.

Giovanna Ceolini was born on 23 May 1959 and is an Italian entrepreneur and the sole director of Parabiago Collezioni Srl.

Immediately after obtaining her high school diploma in bookkeeping, she started working in the footwear sector in her hometown Parabiago (an important international footwear manufacturing district north of Milan), initially as a samples and sales manager for the Cele Ferrario shoe factory, and subsequently as general manager for the Conceria Buscatese tannery. Her first entrepreneurial venture was in 1995 alongside Karl Schlecht and Thierry Rabotin before she went on to found her own shoe factory, Parabiago Collezioni, in 1999. She chairs the Footwear Manufacturing Group for Confindustria in the Northern Milan area.

PASQUALE DELLA PIA of the company Della Pia Srl (Arzano, Naples) will be responsible for areas linked to digitalisation and sustainability, two key aspects in this new phase in the evolution of the market. These areas are increasingly important for defining the standards of the production processes in the footwear sector and by overseeing them, Assocalzaturifici will enable companies to develop towards new objectives and improve their competitiveness. Pasquale Della Pia owns the Calzaturificio Della Pia srl shoe factory in Arzano (NA) along with his brother Giovanni and is its Sales manager. The company produces for luxury brands and its own brand "Deimille", which will be renamed D Milano starting from SS2020.

Since 2011 he has been a board member of Anci and has worked in the industrial union of Naples as Deputy Chairman of the fashion and design section. He is a member of the MODEC Regional Chamber of fashion for the Campania region and a founder of the Museo del Vero e del Falso, a Confindustria Campania association. He is a founding member of the Scientific Committee of ITS Campania Fashion which offers training courses for the production of footwear. Along with the CEC Chairman, Cleto Sagripanti, in April 2019 he organised the WFC – World Footwear Congress in Naples. 

SALINA FERRETTI, of the company Falc Spa (Civitanova Marche, Macerata) will be responsible for Asia and America and will therefore focus on the international market and coordinate trade fair events in Seoul and Tokyo which Assocalzaturifici will be focusing on to offer quality showcases for Italian companies in Asian markets, where Italian products remain extremely popular. She will also be responsible for children’s footwear, a segment in which quality and safety are constantly evolving.

Since 2006 Salina Ferretti has been General Manager of Falc, a children’s footwear company that owns Naturino, Falcotto and Voile Blanche, a collection for men and women, as well as other brands.

Ferretti was born in the United Kingdom in 1967 and went to school there until she was a teenager. In 1993 she graduated in Economics and Business Management at Bocconi University in Milan and in the same year she started working in Frankfurt as a Management Controller for Merloni, a leading European home furniture company. In 1995 she joined the Falc group as Sales Manager for European markets. From 2004 to 2006 she lived in Beijing where the company opened more than 80 corner stores in various Chinese cities. Since 2006 she has been General Manager of Falc. In 2016 she was appointed Chairman of the Association of footwear manufacturers in Macerata.

GIAMPIETRO MELCHIORRI, of the Gal.Men. Srl shoe factory (Montegranaro, Fermo) is responsible for the market which includes Russia and the Countries of the former CIS bloc as well as Emerging Countries and will therefore also deal with events organised in these markets, such as OBUV in Moscow as well as the events in Kiev and Almaty in Ukraine. These are markets with a long-standing strong relationship with Italian products that need a special focus to ensure that Italian companies are well placed to seize these opportunities. Melchiorri will also be responsible for Made in Italy production, which must be protected to guarantee quality and continue to raise awareness on this issue with international markets and institutions.

Giampietro Melchiorri is 54 years old. He is married and has two children. Since 1985 he and his brother Lucio run the GAL.MEN shoe factory, which was founded by their father Alessandro in 1955.

Melchiorri is highly involved in the Confindustria network in the province of Fermo, where his company is based. In particular, he held the post as Chairman of the footwear section for Confindustria Fermo for 2015-2016, when he also became Chairman of Confindustria Fermo. Since 2017 he has been Chairman of Confindustria for the Central Adriatic Ascoli Piceno and Fermo areas.

The executive board also includes CHARLOTTA BACHINI (of the Gardenia Srl shoe factory in Santa Maria a Monte, Pistoia) with the post of Chair of the Association's Young Entrepreneurs and ANNARITA PILOTTI (of the company Loriblu Spa, of Porto Sant’Elpidio, Fermo), the last Chair of the Association. The latter two board members will offer an important contribution to the board as they represent, respectively, a connection with the sector's future expectations and the results that have already been reached by the Association.

Press release

Assocalzaturifici

Milan, 22 July 2019