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A factory in Bucine where Italian luxury house Valentino produced its popular line of Rockstud shoes was almost completely destroyed in a fire last week, during the evening and early hours of April 1 and April 2. No one was injured in the fire, but 38,000 pairs of finished or semi-finished shoes were destroyed.
The facility was key to Valentino’s production, and employed 160 people producing 1,300 pairs of shoes per day. It focused on the Rockstud line as well as other women’s and men’s footwear styles. A pair of Rockstud high heels can cost upward of $1,000 at retailers.
On Friday, Valentino announced a plan in the wake of the fire. The luxury label will run double shifts at another facility in Montelupo Fiorentino and also move some workers to a logistics centre near the destroyed facility. Others will be moved to a Prada factory, which the brand is lending Valentino.
“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,” said Jacopo Venturini, chief executive of Valentino. “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.”
