Claudia Firenze: double-digit growth in turnover, enters the Hungarian market

New developments in distribution for the brand led by Assopellettieri’s president, Claudia Sequi.

“The brand celebrated its 55th anniversary this year and can rightly be described as a historic name in the Florentine area. We are the second generation at the helm, with a third now coming through,” Claudia Sequi told FashionNetwork.com.

“We are now stocked in a few thousand shops worldwide, as well as in major retail chains and various online catalogues. Our bags can be found across the globe: in the United States, Japan and South Korea, primarily under the Claudia Firenze name and, to a lesser extent, through other brands we have created to diversify our business: Vittoria Firenze, a younger women’s line featuring softer bags, and Filippo Firenze, a brand – despite the name – that also focuses on women’s bags, with a more classic style. Their positioning, in terms of market segment, is the same as that of the main brand,” the entrepreneur revealed.

Filippo Firenze is named after Sequi’s younger brother, while Vittoria is the feminine form of their father’s name, Vittorio Sequi, the company’s founder.

“We also handle private label and product development. We can design and produce bags and accessories from scratch, an activity that accounts for around 30 per cent of our total turnover, which came to €5.6 million in 2025 and grew at a double-digit rate; the remaining 70 per cent is generated by our brands, with Claudia Firenze clearly predominant.”

North America (the United States and Canada) is Claudia Firenze’s largest market, generating 70 per cent of its turnover.

“We have traditionally operated there since the very beginning of our business, which started in 1971,” explained Sequi.

“After the United States comes part of Eastern Europe, mainly Poland, which is in fact the country growing the fastest in the euro area, followed by Japan and South Korea.”

The Pontassieve-based company employs around twenty people directly, and there is a new development in its distribution network.

“This year we’ve entered the Hungarian market,” revealed Sequi in conclusion, proud of the environmental sustainability results achieved by her company.

“We have been investing in renewable energy since 2011. Over the past 15 years, we have prevented thousands of tonnes of CO₂ from being released into the environment – equivalent to hundreds of thousands of kilometres travelled by car. Our hybrid vehicles are powered by the sun; we also offer charging points for visitors’ electric cars.”

Furthermore, “all our production waste is rigorously sorted and disposed of in collaboration with certified companies that handle its recycling.”