中文title: “LVMH-Backed Masoni Takes Stake in Split Suede Specialist Hashtag Tannery” seo_description: “Italy’s Masoni Industria Conciaria, backed by LVMH, acquires a minority stake in Tuscan suede split specialist Hashtag Tannery.” seo_tags: [“Masoni”, “Hashtag Tannery”, “LVMH Métiers d’Art”, “Tuscan leather”, “split suede”, “Made in Italy”, “luxury supply chain”] seo_slug: “masoni-acquires-stake-hashtag-tannery” original_url: “https://leathernews.org/lvmh-backed-masoni-acquires-minority-stake-in-split-suede-specialist-hashtag-tannery/” source: “Leather News”
LVMH-Backed Masoni Takes Stake in Split Suede Specialist Hashtag Tannery
Italy’s luxury leather supply chain is consolidating in quiet, strategic increments — and the latest move shows exactly how the country’s finest tanners are positioning themselves for the next decade. Masoni Industria Conciaria S.p.A., the Santa Croce sull’Arno tannery backed by LVMH’s Métiers d’Art division since 2019, has acquired a minority stake in Hashtag S.r.l., a Tuscan specialist in premium split suede.
It is Masoni’s second minority investment in a Tuscan tannery, following its 2022 acquisition of a stake in Ulivieri & Nardi. Taken together, the moves sketch a deliberate industrial strategy: rather than chasing scale through outright acquisitions, Masoni is weaving a network of complementary specialists into a tighter, more resilient supply chain for the world’s most demanding fashion houses.
The logic is material-specific. Masoni built its name on premium calf leather. Hashtag, founded in 2017 by Gianmarco Pinori and Lucio Verbeni, specialises in the production of high-end suede splits and quality leathers for footwear, leather goods and apparel. By combining Masoni’s expertise in calf with Hashtag’s command of split leathers, the group broadens its product offering without diluting either brand’s focus. For luxury clients who want a single, trusted supplier capable of delivering both a flawless calfskin and a sophisticated suede from the same Italian district, that combination is compelling.
Hashtag is no minor player. The company recently inaugurated a new production facility in Fucecchio and generated roughly €9 million in revenue in 2025, according to Italian media. Masoni itself, per Milano Finanza, reported more than €45 million in revenue the same year. Behind Masoni sits LVMH’s Métiers d’Art — the division the group created precisely to secure mastery over the crafts and suppliers that luxury margins depend on, from leather and tanneries to specialised ateliers.
Fabrizio Masoni, the company’s founder and CEO, framed the deal in the language of partnership rather than conquest. “Our objective is to collaborate with entrepreneurs and manufacturing companies that share our vision,” he said. “This means producing exceptional leather, believing in the value of Made in Italy and working with expertise, quality and innovation.” The phrasing matters: LVMH’s Métiers d’Art strategy has consistently emphasised preserving the independence and craft identity of the houses it backs, not absorbing them into a faceless conglomerate.
That approach carries real strategic weight for Tuscany’s renowned tanning district. By keeping ownership local, reinvesting in facilities and tying smaller specialists to the orbit of global luxury demand, investments like this help preserve the “know-how, manufacturing heritage and entrepreneurial culture” Masoni says it wants to protect. In an industry where production has drifted toward lower-cost regions, the defence of Italian tanning capacity has become both an economic and a cultural project.
For Hashtag’s founders, the upside is visibility as much as capital. Pinori and Verbeni noted that the investment would enhance the company’s credibility, increase its international profile and support future growth. Being linked to a LVMH-backed supplier lends a startup specialist an instant passport to the procurement teams of the world’s top brands.
Masoni’s client roster already reads like a roll call of luxury: Berluti, Celine, Dior, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, Yves Saint Laurent and Stefano Ricci all source premium calf leather from the group. Adding split-suede capability through Hashtag only deepens those relationships.
The broader signal is clear. As luxury groups push for security of supply, traceability and craft control, Italy’s best tanners are responding by specialising and clustering rather than fragmenting. Masoni’s stake in Hashtag is a small transaction with a large meaning: the future of Made in Italy leather will be written by networks of focused, mutually reinforcing specialists — backed, increasingly, by the balance sheets of the maisons they serve.
Source: Leather News
