Investing offshoring processes is possible. Competition from third world countries, now converted into emerging, does not need to be deadly for the Spanish economy, nor Andalusian, despite having suffered many dramatic experiences of loss of employment and industries for the benefit, impossible to repay, of cheap work in other parts of the world. In Ubrique, a town located in the mountains of Cádiz, can boast of having achieved it and also without losing rights or wages. After decades of slump, luxury brands have returned to knock on the doors of their companies and the leather industry is experiencing its most vibrant time. It has not only recovered the production of important brands that were always, but they had left their orders to minimum quantities, as Loewe and Carolina Herrera, but have recovered others that occurred long ago in their ‘bowling’ as: Balmain, Nina Ricci, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Montblanc, Cartier. New firms come up from luxury segment as Prada. Furthermore, the industry is expecting an imminent landing of Chanel and a brand new Vuitton conglomerate, LVMH.

Ubrique Exclusive Leather Goods

All this is well known in the streets, where it is an open secret, because companies do not say anything. They must keep a confidential clause in their contracts, which prevents them from giving any information about their productions, in what kind of designs are responsible and proper names of the contracting firms, because luxury is very strict.

To sum up, the most luxury brands have come back and it seems they will stand here. This is also the best performing sector in crisis. It grows as double digit and is expected within six to eight years it reaches double the employment that it generates in Europe.

The reasons are numerous, according to José Pulido, Empiel president and leather manufacturer at the same time. The most remarkable one is the need for rigorous and control of production. “In the Southeast Asian countries, especially China and India, 20,000 pieces were in charge of any product in and out of the factories 40,000, by the back door, towards the black market ‘. Forgery is one of the greatest threats of the sector in these countries, where industrial espionage is something usual, they can hardly maintain confidentiality required in designs. By contrast, in Ubrique control is total, as is the exquisite quality of manufacturing, based on an ancient tradition, people went back to the dates of the Romans, and has been the basis of its economy.

Ubrique has more advantages, such as the proximity to designers and brand managers who come to review the production, launch new lines or control manufacturing. Also has a quality raw material, has business network, has skilled workers and has the ability to adapt to the size of the order that comes. As in Asia where factories are mass produced in Ubrique we also work small orders, which correspond to the standard pattern of luxury, which is by definition limited editions. “When they get larger orders we find it very easy to find partners in area businesses or hire new employees to fulfill orders within the agreed deadlines.”