La Matta

Company in the Veneto area specialized in the manufacture of leather garments. Established by Piergiorgio Asola in 1975 in Trissino, near Vicenza, the brand combines the leather tradition of Veneto and northeast Italy with the fabrics and accessories from Biella and Como, and with the tanned calfskin of the south. La Matta does not only get its raw materials from Italy: the soft leather for gloves, colored with aniline to guarantee non-deformability and softness, and the double-face sheepskin are from Spain; and suede comes directly from North America. During the 1980s the company created the lines La Matta Uomo and La Matta Donna, which have won market share through international multibrand stores. Besides its own griffe, it produces the leather collections of designers like Armani, Polo Ralph Lauren, Corneliani and Max Mara. It provides leather garments to Gianfranco Ferré, with whom the company has been collaborating for more than two decades. At international level the major partners are American — Neuman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Barney’s in New York, Louis of Boston — and Japanese, such as Isetan and Swank Shop. The consolidated turnover of the company, at present guided by Lorenzo Asola, amounts to about €20 million.