Man with suitcase
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This story begins by Nicholas Stanescu.
This story begins with Nicola Stanescu: the man with the suitcase.
Nicola left his home town of Bucharest in Romania at the very young age of twenty and after a lot of ups and downs he arrived in Italy, we are in 1948. His first stop was Rome then he moved on to Florence, his final destination. He knew he would be reunited with his uncle’s family in Florence. In fact, some of his maternal family had kept its roots in Italy.
We won’t spend too much time on the story of his trip from Romania to Italy. Still, we can certainly call it an adventure. Nicola was young, and as we all know, young people aren’t scared of taking risks! The spirit that helped the young Nicola deal with his journey is full of hope. The future opened up before him and his prospects were undoubtedly better than what he had left behind. Nicola had a great dream: to build a new future for himself and for his family that was still in Romania. At the time, Nicola didn’t know what the future held in store for him when it came to his loved ones. The idea was to bring the whole family together in Italy: his mother, his sisters and their husbands. That didn’t happen. Just after he left, the communist regime closed the borders and that dream was shut off to him forever… Nicola really wanted to be successful in life and he wanted to put the work experience he had built up with his paternal uncle, Nicolai to good use. Uncle Nicolai had a large shoemaking company in Bucharest. Nicola wanted to make the most of his knowledge to create a better future for himself. There’s no doubt that inwardly Nicola had great dreams, but they were based on the certainty of his own ability. All the future did was to accommodate his great strength of will. We can say that his world was leather goods. A world made of leather and its odour.
In the early ’50s much of the work was almost all done by hand and he had lots of manual skills in this area: he knew how to make a bag from start to finish. He knew how to conceive it, he drew the cardboard model, he cut it out, sewed it up, assembled it, finished it off and the bag was done! Even today, we can see before us the pride that he felt in his work: work was his passion, but leather was his love! In Florence he met his future wife Fernanda, and the very young couple married. Two children, Rossella and Andrea were born a few years later. In 1955 he set up L.A.P.A.
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Man with suitcase
This story begins with Nicola Stanescu: the man with the suitcase.
Nicola left his home town of Bucharest in Romania at the very young age of twenty and after a lot of ups and downs he arrived in Italy, we are in 1948. His first stop was Rome then he moved on to Florence, his final destination. He knew he would be reunited with his uncle’s family in Florence. In fact, some of his maternal family had kept its roots in Italy.
We won’t spend too much time on the story of his trip from Romania to Italy. Still, we can certainly call it an adventure. Nicola was young, and as we all know, young people aren’t scared of taking risks! The spirit that helped the young Nicola deal with his journey is full of hope. The future opened up before him and his prospects were undoubtedly better than what he had left behind. Nicola had a great dream: to build a new future for himself and for his family that was still in Romania. At the time, Nicola didn’t know what the future held in store for him when it came to his loved ones. The idea was to bring the whole family together in Italy: his mother, his sisters and their husbands. That didn’t happen. Just after he left, the communist regime closed the borders and that dream was shut off to him forever… Nicola really wanted to be successful in life and he wanted to put the work experience he had built up with his paternal uncle, Nicolai to good use. Uncle Nicolai had a large shoemaking company in Bucharest. Nicola wanted to make the most of his knowledge to create a better future for himself. There’s no doubt that inwardly Nicola had great dreams, but they were based on the certainty of his own ability. All the future did was to accommodate his great strength of will. We can say that his world was leather goods. A world made of leather and its odour.
In the early ’50s much of the work was almost all done by hand and he had lots of manual skills in this area: he knew how to make a bag from start to finish. He knew how to conceive it, he drew the cardboard model, he cut it out, sewed it up, assembled it, finished it off and the bag was done! Even today, we can see before us the pride that he felt in his work: work was his passion, but leather was his love! In Florence he met his future wife Fernanda, and the very young couple married. Two children, Rossella and Andrea were born a few years later. In 1955 he set up L.A.P.A.
LAPA company's team
First of all we would like to dedicate the next few lines to two members of the company who have always been present from the beginning until now and who saw L.A.P.A. grow over the years, we are talking about the “boys”, Walter and Bruno.
I nostri dipendenti
They joined the company when they were little more than adolescents and are now retired but their great experience makes them still a part of the company. Andrea and Rossella thank them for their valuable support when Nicola passed away. The first “diehard team” continued unchanged over the years, teaching everyone who followed, all the young people, the art of leather goods, but not only that, also the love for a “craft” that belongs to the tradition of the florentine handicraft network. Let’s not forget eitherhow many people trained in the company then spread their wings and flew away to set up on their own, and Nicola was proud of this because they were his “creatures”. A thankyou to everyone who has ever worked in L.A.P.A. To everyone who still works there, thanks for their daily commitment, which has helped ensure that today we are celebrating its 50th anniversary!
I figli Andrea e Rossella
The children when they were young, first Rossella then Andrea joined the company. The roles were immediately divided: Rossella covered administration and accounting. Andrea followed his father’s footsteps to learn about the organisation of the work, very quickly becoming the new linchpin of L.A.P.A. The story of the company thus evolved with the new ideas of the son trying out new lines in particular with a new collection model for menand women anagers of the new times. The range of colours was extended and added to the new collections and “colour” a new page in the story of L.A.P.A. They both put all their efforts into the continued success of the company, something they felt was a duty when Nicola passed away, but that also became a stimulus to continue with pride what their father had begun,
hoping that he would look
down proudly on their efforts and on how
his children are handling the not always
easy present. The tough times did not stop
with Nicola but unfortunately continued
with devastating international events: wars and the event that will go down in history as one of its darkest pages: the collapse of the twin towers on 11th September2001. These events put a big strain on both the world and international trade. But like their father had taught them: always go forward, never look behind. In time, Rossella’s husband Francesco also oined them, bringing his administrative contribution and experience.
Clamori
In 1999 Clamori, the first L.A.P.A. singlebrand store, opened in the triangle of the most famous brand names in Florence, and is run by Lella and Serena, wife and daughter of Andrea. The opening of the store in the centre of Florence was a further reinforcing of the prestige of the brand.
Out to conquer the world
From a small handicraft company, L.A.P.A. has expanded and over the years began to “conquer” many countries, it crossed oceans, mountain chains, it arrived on the other side of the world, from Australia to Asian countries like Malaysia. Our “creatures”: our briefcases can be found in the chicest stores in every city in the world, in the big american chain stores, in shopping centres and malls. L.A.P.A. is still continuing to expand and aims to take off in new countries, like China. Russia and Kazakhstan already belong to the group of countries that we supply.
Il futuro
The future nobody can predict the future, so we can’t say what will happen. Andrea and Lella have a daughter called Serena, she’s 22 yearsold and she’s studying psychology, but apart from working in the store she also helps out in the company when she can. We hope that in the future she won’t allow what her grandfather and her daddy and her aunt built up with so much effort, and with so much love to vanish and fade away. We all hope that the future for L.A.P.A. is prosperous and full of satisfaction, but above all we hope for peace all over the world!
And now: thank you. At the end of this small presentation of the story of L.A.P.A., we would like to say thankyou to everyone who believed in this company. Naturally we are referring to our dear customers, in particular the ones who have been buying our products for many years, and that we have now developed a friendship with! Thanks to the new customers who have joined the “old” ones. Thanks also to our future customers who might even get to know us through this biography. Thanks to our tanneries that supply us with top quality raw material.
Company's development
It is strange to think that the first products made by Nicola were leather school bags and doctor’s bags, followed by the production of briefcases, which very soon turned into the forte of L.A.P.A. At that time the economic boom and the growing demand for leather goods for work led to the decision by Nicola to dedicate himself to that sector alone, extending the pattern collection for men’s briefcases, travel goods and leisure items; it was only in the ’90s that he added the first women’s briefcases. Encouraged by the positive results and urged on by his son Andrea, Nicola decided to begin to expand the sale of his handmade and highly qualified products abroad, through exhibitions and fairs. And so another of his dreams came true: to see the name of his company “all over the world”. Following a suggestion by his son Andrea who saw the future of the company in this sector: the woman manager, the career woman!
Encouraged by the positive results and urged on by his son Andrea, Nicola decided to begin to expand the sale of his handmade and highly qualified products abroad, through exhibitions and fairs. And so another of his dreams came true: to see the name of his company “all over the world”.
The first fair that L.A.P.A. participated in halfway through the ’60s was none other than the Handicrafts fair in Florence, where it won the gold medal in 1970.
It was a real festival as well as an excellent opportunity to advertise and sell the L.A.P.A. product. Nicola took his small children Andrea and Rossella along with him, and they helped daddy to “sell”. But it was his son Andrea who cultivated the biggest dream: to take part in Mipel: the international leather goods fair in Milan. For many years they were assiduous visitors to find out the latest news in the leather goods field. L.A.P.A. entered Mipel as an exhibitor in 1985, when Andrea accepted the responsibility of taking this important and risky step that projected the company towards new horizons.
A significant organisational effort was required but the results proved that this initiative was right. The direct presence on the exhibition market extended its customer network and today L.A.P.A. has been a legitimate part of this important international event for twenty years. Through some of its customers, the L.A.P.A. products are displayed in other prestigious fairs in America and in emerging countries. The awards that the company has received in appreciation for the top quality handcrafted and original work of the collection models and the fact that the product continues to be exclusively made in Italy are:
Gold medal 1970
Quality and courtesy award 1980
Gold florin award 2005
The origin L. A. P. A.'s name and its strength
The origin of the name L . A. P. A. lies in the
actual initials that make it up, so:
L stands for lavorazione (workmanship)
A stands for artigianale (handcrafted)
P stands for pellame (leather)
A stands for affini (related leathers)
Nicola established L.A.P.A. with passion and pride, and together with his family is the source of great satisfaction but lso, and more than anything else of great and continuous efforts spread through the years, in good times and bad. L.A.P.A. went through what was a really bad patch for everyone in 1966: the year of the floods in Florence, when Nicola had to draw on all his strength to ensure that his beloved company, flooded by the Arno river, was not swept away by this tragic event.
Nicola devoted his whole life to his company until 1995, when he suddenly passed away. And that is how L.A.P.A. began and so, today, in 2005, this company is celebrating its “first” 50 years. The aim of these pages is to commemorate this important achievement, remembering both L.A.P.A. and its founder Nicola Stanescu. Naturally, we hope that after Andrea and Rossella this family tradition will continue, through the capacity and will of the new generation, Serena, Andrea and Lella’s daughter to take L.A.P.A. ahead another fifty years…
i have simple tastes. i am always satisfied with the best
