L’alta sartoria è «green» con i tessuti rigenerati.

A Prato non ci sono solo i cinesi. Manteco, l’azienda tessile della famiglia Mantellassi, festeggia quest’anno i 75 anni di attività e continua a rifornire i grandi marchi del lusso e della moda con i suoi tessuti di alta qualità, famosi per i capi spalla di lana cardata e i finissaggi sapienti. «L’attività è cominciata con mio nonno Enzo nel 1943, poi è subentrato mio padre Franco e adesso ci siamo noi due fratelli, Matteo e Marco», spiega Marco Mantellassi. Il padre Franco, che in maggio festeggia gli 80 anni, ha guidato l’espansione da piccola azienda artigianale a media impresa esportatrice in trenta Paesi e ora che può permetterselo, invece di riposare si è rimesso a studiare, fino a laurearsi recentemente in ingegneria elettronica, con una tesi dedicata ai sistemi digitali per il controllo dei tessuti. «Per noi la ricerca e l’innovazione non finiscono mai», spiega Mantellassi, che attribuisce il successo dell’azienda, passata da un fatturato di 38 milioni nel 2013 ai 72 del 2017, proprio alla costante invenzione di nuovi finissaggi, attraverso processi innovativi e i relativi brevetti. Dall’altro lato, «Manteco è sempre rimasta fedele alla tradizione del made in Italy e non ha mai delocalizzato la produzione, anche quando tutti scappavano nei Paesi più competitivi per il costo basso della manodopera», precisa Marco. «Per noi è importante l’attenzione al dettaglio e non riusciremmo ad averne altrettanta se lo stabilimento fosse altrove», rileva ancora Mantellassi, che punta a distinguersi dai competitor camminando sullo stretto crinale fra artigianalità e industrializzazione. Un altro punto fermo, per Manteco, è la sostenibilità. «Le nostre materie prime sono controllate e tracciate fino alla fattoria d’origine e negli ultimi anni abbiamo aumentato la produzione da tessuti rigenerati, in base ai principi dell’economia circolare, soddisfacendo le esigenze dei clienti con finissaggi che valorizzano anche questi prodotti, una volta considerati di scarto, ma ora sempre più richiesti per motivi di sostenibilità», ragiona Mantellassi. Un nuovo fronte, che per Manteco ha aperto opportunità di crescita. Anche durante la crisi.

The company from Prato, specialized in recycled wool, continues on the path of sustainability that has made it one of the key players in circular economy, expanding its range of products. The new product is called 'Woolten' and comes from the union of Manteco's MWool Recycled with Tencel, an ecological fiber of beech and eucalyptus produced by the Austrian company Lenzing. The result is a fabric suitable for all seasons, which combines the natural characteristics of both fibers and which has already been appreciated by foreign customers. Woolten fabrics were analyzed by the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, and they ensure savings of 80% of water, 59% of total energy and 79% of carbon dioxide compared to a fabric made with virgin wool. "We are always looking for new materials".

Manteco has been selected as one of the "1000 companies inspiring Europe" by London Stock Exchange Group. A report of the London Stock Exchange, celebrating of some of the fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK and Europe. As well as identifying 1,000 companies, the annual reports examine in detail the opportunities and challenges facing SMEs and looks at the sectors and trends that will shape the future of the British and European economies. Established in 1943 by Enzo Mantellassi, Manteco has been making high-quality fabrics from virgin and recycled materials for more than 70 years, and now exports to more than 30 countries worldwide. Running the business is the founder’s son, Franco, and grandsons, Marco and Matteo Mantellassi, who have worked hard to keep the family firm thriving in a turbulent period for Italy’s economy. “We still make everything here in Italy and operate from the famous Prato textile district, and the daily challenge of the fabric sector is to help the textile district of Prato stay alive,” explains Marco, CEO. “As a result we invest heavily in the processes of our entire supply chain, because every single company contributes in a fundamental way to the production of the fabric.” The investment is clearly working: Manteco’s production capacity currently runs at over seven million metres of fabric per year, and the firm’s “unique know-how” is now on display via a public archive of more than 40,000 pieces produced by the firm. Marco attributes this success to an integrated supply chain and an unwavering commitment to R&D. “Thanks to very deep R&D activity, the company is able to make products balanced between classic and contemporary, with innovative finishing that enhances virgin and regenerated wool,” says Marco. This novel combination of classic and contemporary has won the firm clients around the world, including international and sustainable fashion brands. “European governments must recognise that the value of the fabric produced in the Prato district is unmatched. These fabrics are produced from old, used garments brought back to life through age-old processes, skilled workmanship and pioneering technology. These raw materials provide a much-needed sustainable option – one that governments should be enhancing and supporting,” Marco says.

We are proud to share with you that Cribis D&B, the Crif Group company specialized in commercial information about Italian and foreign companies, on October 2018 granted its Prime Company certificate to Manteco– in recognition of its “outstanding credit rating”: RATING 1 and PAYDEX®> 70. This standing is granted to just 3% of Italian companies every year – taking into account their stability and reliability in economic, commercial and financial terms. The certificate is based on Cribis D&B Rating, a constantly updated indicator which records, in a dynamic way, the creditworthiness of a company.

Recycled, symbolic, protective, fashionable, democratic: an exhibition that investigates the use of fabric as a form of protest.

A photographic story, in black and white, which depicts the Prato textile industry and its artisans. Strongly desired by Manteco, it is a work of art commissioned to Jacopo Benassi, probably the most important Italian photographer of the last generation and with an unmistakable style.

Manteco is proud to celebrate 75 years of business with some exceptional partners: Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Pecci, 30th year since its foundation and Lungarno Collection, a stylish group of intimate design hotels in the heart of Florence with a strong artistic attitude. A special event, which contains two themes close to the company: Art and Nature. A combination that finds the perfect interpreter in Loris Cecchini, a multidisciplinary artist that for, the occasion, will create a site-specific artwork on the walls of the Gallery Hotel and will remain visible from June to December 2018. The artwork, industrially manufactured and assembled by hand with artisan skills, tells a natural and mineral world through biological and architectural references, creating a particular atmosphere on the border between science and the environment.  Another part of the artwork “Waterbones” has already been installed at the Gallery Hotel in Florence. With this action the artist Loris Cecchini continues the collaboration with Manteco: a modern ‘patronage’ where contemporary art meets the growth, not just economic, of a leading company in the district. A few days ago a Loris Cecchini’s art work, recently purchased by the Mantellassi family, has been installed in the head quarter, created ad hoc and designed to fit perfectly in the company’s entrance. This is a new composition on the theme Waterbones already installed at the Gallery Hotel in Florence. The artist Loris Cecchini continues the binomial with Manteco, a modern ‘patronage’ where contemporary art meets the growth, not only economic, of a leading company in the district.