ECCO Leather calls itself the world’s first design-led tannery. Their recent investment in Agfa’s Alussa leather printing technology will enable them to create fully personalized products in any volume, at any time.
ECCO Leather is a global and innovative tannery that produces luxury leather goods, footwear and soft goods. When one of their customers was looking for a good solution to decorate leather, ECCO started researching providers of digital leather printing technologies. After a thorough benchmark, Alussa’s high-quality prints with outstanding durability and rub resistance led them to invest in Agfa’s solution.
“Alussa’s personalization options will enable us to expand our product offering and attract additional customers”, says Ricardo Cid Miranda, Factory Director of the ECCO Leather tannery in Dongen, the Netherlands. Having the printing technology in-house also fits in the company’s sustainability strategy as it means they don’t need to transport the leather to a printing company and back.
"Alussa’s personalization options will enable us to expand our product offering and attract additional customers"
The relationship with Agfa feels right, he adds. “We feel that Agfa strives for constant improvement and diversification, in the same way that we do. Our R&D departments have worked together very well to tune the typical tanning chemistry and the inkjet inks to each other.”
HOT-SHOP
Every year, ECCO organizes HOT-SHOP, a four-day event for people from all parts of the industry, including scientists, designers, research teams and leather workers. They participate in workshops centered around free creativity – without the pressure of commercial results. The presence of the Alussa printing solution at the latest edition attracted a lot of interest and got all parties involved thinking about additional decoration and customization options.
