RUSSO DI CASANDRINO: LEATHER EXPERIMENTATION & INNOVATION DESIGN

Progetto: LEATHER EXPERIMENTATION & INNOVATION DESIGN
Project Leader: Luigi Mulas
Master in Accessories Design a.y. 2021/2022Industry Project in collaboration with RUSSI DI CASANDRINO _ Marco Monaco, Chief Production Officer

With a family presence in the tanning sector that dates to the beginning of the last century, Russo di Casandrino has been producing high quality leathers for leather goods, footwear, and clothing for the luxury sector for over 50 years, positioning itself at the top of the sector. The wide range of products offered, strictly “Made in Italy” or “Made in Italy Full Cycle”, is the result of a design that not only pursues aesthetic and functional aspects, but also pays due attention to the environmental impact, using materials and study processes increasingly oriented towards an eco-sustainable and widely traceable production system.

After visiting the tannery and learning the various steps of leather production, the students were given the brief by the company. The goal of the “Leather Experimentation & Innovation Design” project was to expose students to the origin of the main materials related to the design of accessories to acquire in-depth experience in the supply chain.

The design of the material represents one of the most interesting and current challenges for the sector. Russo di Casandrino being an ideal partner able to translate the most diverse stylistically designed leather into production, supporting the design studios and the research and development offices of customer materials, in the fundamental phase of prototyping and industrialization.

The challenge of this project consisted in the development of new articles that at the same time had to be able to exploit 100% the qualitative potential of the leather produced.

Both sheep and calf skins were considered. The process, which took into account the various applications in the field of footwear and leather goods, was aimed at creating prints on leather or embossed in relief or digital with various graphics (by way of example but not limited to: from the exotic to the floral / botanical, geometric …), functional in the recovery of second and third choice quality leather present in the warehouse.

Congratulations students for the work done and thanks to Marco Monaco, Chief Production Officer and the Russo di Casandrino team for the time dedicated to our students. Following this industry project, the student Sara Veneziano was selected for a curricular internship with the company.