Shoes and Accessories

Giovanna Furlanetto is the president of Furla, one of the major players in the world leather goods market, toting an annual turnover of more than €200 million. In the 1970s, along with her brothers Carlo and Paolo, she took over from her father Aldo who founded the company in 1927. Together they began to produce a Furla brand collection, pursuing a focused expansion plan for the firm’s distribution network, that today counts 328 single-brand boutiques in 91 countries and a distribution network...

From studying hotel management to leather, how did this dramatic transition happen? When I entered this business I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. Thankfully, through several unsuccessful experiences and great mentors, I discovered an interest in leather and international trade. I learnt the ropes at two tanneries and joined the Netherlands-based Van Hoorn Trading. When I started looking after their India operations I had no finance but gradually got into an open contract. Senate...

The more than three decades old footwear major, Liberty, is re-engineering its DNA to catch up with the globally-hyped young India. This is coming at a modest cost of ₹50 crore annually, even as the company clocked ₹350 crore in the last fiscal, closing at ₹500crore+ in 2013-14 and now stepping up ops to meet the targeted ₹600 crore this year. Another feather in its cap in the April 2013-February 2014 span included manufacture of more than a crore pairs of footwear. “Last year, it was 82 lakh...