A devastating fire in Tuscany, Italy ravaged a shoe factory operated by Valentino earlier this month, resulting in multi-million euros worth of loss for the luxury fashion house.
The fire reportedly started on the evening of April 1, continuously spreading the next day until it burned the manufacturing plant to the ground. While no casualties and injuries were reported, the unfortunate event destroyed 90% of the site known as the Valentino Shoes Lab (VSL), including an estimated 38,000 pairs of shoes.
The Italian luxury brand—which has already reported losses last year after being greatly hit by the pandemic—has devised a temporary action plan to address the tragic accident and allow its employees to return to work and restart production.
“I’m touched and moved by the solidarity that was formed within our company, and not only, as an immediate consequence after the devastating fire which has destroyed one of our manufacturing excellences,” said Jacopo Venturini, CEO of Valentino. “The swiftness with which we were able to develop an effective plan of action is an evident consequence of the love that the Valentino employees nurture for our company. Our ambition is to return to produce and manufacture more or less at the same pace that we sustained before the incident, starting next month. This objective has become possible due to various initiatives which, implemented together, will allow us to regularly produce a good part of the seasonal orders.”
Coming to its aid, Prada, a rival fashion company which operates a facility in the same area, did not hesitate to make their facility available to the Roman fashion house in a touching act of solidarity that will allow Valentino to resume production in May.
“I would also like to thank from the bottom of my heart Patrizio Bertelli, Prada CEO, who immediately contacted us to express his solidarity and by making available one of his factories located a few kilometers away from our production site,” Venturini revealed.
VSL had 160 workers employed, who produced 1,300 pairs of shoes a day, including the house’s signature Rockstuds.
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