Pollini Company History.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Ettore Pollini began manufacturing women's shoes in San Mauro in the vicinity of fine resort Rimini near the Adriatic Sea. Pollini's manufacturing with craftsmanship, and high-quality and comfortable shoes fascinated summer visitors to Rimini, and soon obtained a reputation from Italian women.

After that, Ettore's sons, Vittorio and Albelto Pollini brothers succeeded to the business, and established Pollini S.p.A. in 1953. In the 1960s, they developed their retail stores in Italy, opening boutiques in Ravenna, Rome, Milan, Bologna, etc. Launching into the business in Paris and New York, the POLLINI brand became popular in the European market.

Now Pollini S.p.A. has its headquarters and factory in Gatteo, Italy, and deals with shoes, bags, leather goods, accessories and clothes. The number of employees is 328, and annual sales are 6.5 billion yen. The company has 26 retail stores in Italy, and the exports to Europe, Russia and North America occupy 40% of the sales proceeds. The company also plans to open new retail stores in Europe and North America by the end of 2003.

In January 2001, Pollini took part in "Aeffe Fashion Group" which comprises Alberta Ferretti, Moschino, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Narciso Rodriguez. Pollini produces a synergistic effect in terms of organisation, production, and sales according to the power of the group, and also works toward improvement of the brand position, and reorganisation of the sales networks.

Especially in the merchandise policy, Pollini focuses on the apparel area by joining in the Aeffe Fashion Group, in addition to the areas of shoes or bags whose quality is maintained high owing to the proficient skills and delicate attention to raw materials and production process, thereby strengthening total brand development.