Sover and Baldinini: eyewear agreement
Sover, a leading company in the eyewear sector based at Soverzene in the province of Belluno, has signed a five-year contract for the production of sunglasses and vision frames and for their distribution in Italy and abroad with Baldinini, the designer at San Mauro Pascoli (Forlì-Cesena) known internationally in the footwear, bags and leather accessories sector.
Sover will produce the collection of models created by the stylist and will present them next May at MIDO 2007.
Initially, the collection will include sunglasses and will be joined subsequently by original vision frames. The agreement is for five years.
Sover, which closed financial year 2005 with euros 21 million for the entire group, an increase of 20.4 per cent, was set up in 1962 and today has its own line of eyewear as well as having the license for the 1a Classe Alviero Martini and Mariella Burani fashion houses.
The new line of Baldinini eyewear will be distributed through a widespread domestic network of outlets served by Sover and over 70 outlets abroad. The same commercial coverage is guaranteed in eastern Europe thanks to Sover joint-ventures that include its own outlets. The eyewear will also be available at all Baldinini flagship stores in Milan and Rome and the other 40 monobrand stores throughout the world.
'We are very pleased about the collaboration with Gimmi Baldinini' commented Sover Marketing Director Stefano Cannicci, 'and we hope that consumers will give these new products the attention they deserve. Thanks to the careful selection of a partner and research into product innovation and quality, the Sover Group now represents a countertrend on the Italian eyewear scene'.
Currently, Sover produces frames in plastic, metal and combos.
Over 70 people are employed at the 3200-square-meter facility in Soverzene in the province of Belluno.
The Sover Group has a production unit in Italy and three commercial joint-ventures located in eastern Europe, with a total of 300 employees.
For over thirty years stylist Gimmi Baldinini has been at the head of Baldinini S.p.A. based at San Mauro Pascoli, but the company's origins date back to the early 1900s.
At a very early age Gimmi Baldinini combined the family talent with his artistic vein and transformed the brand into an international business.
In parallel with his success in Italy, in recent years his name has also been strengthened abroad through the gradual penetration of expanding foreign markets. Baldinini is part of the Antichi Pellettieri Group (Mariella Burani Fashion Group) and is a brand that consumers like because of its sustainable luxury that is high on appeal and has very dynamic fashion elements, leading to a positive influence on the company's growth trend.
After a 2005 which closed with an upturn of 30%, billings at end of 2006 are also forecast to leap ahead with results in excess of euros 50 million.
