Fashion brand Zegna is building a new leathergoods and footwear production facility at Sala Baganza, near Parma.
The company has said that, when complete, the site will cover 12,500 square-metres and will employ 300 people.
In comments to Rome-based daily newspaper La Repubblica, chief executive, Gildo Zegna, grandson of the company’s founder, said that, when the new site is fully operational, it will make half of all its footwear there.
He said the company had also set up its own academy for training new-generation artisans.