THE HISTORYIBALDINELLI firm was born in 2017 but in reality this is a family-run artisan business born in 1981 thanks to Giuseppe Baldinelli (the founder), craftsman expert in the manufacture of hand-tanned leather . Over the years the business with Giuseppe Baldinelli has grown and the name changed several times (from RELAGART to MASTRI LIBRAI to OFFICINA LIBRIS to IKUNICO) because of the changes that frequently happens within companies (i.e. members who are added or removed). Well, both company and brand name changed during the years but what never changed during these 38 years is the Baldinelli family's property and management as well as Giuseppe's know-how.OFFICINA LIBRIS is the brand born in 1995 with which the company has had the maximum expansion especially on the international markets (USA, JAPAN, QUATAR, SAUDI ARABIA, EGYPT) reaching a sales volume around Euro 1.500.000; the whole Baldinelli family (Giuseppe with his son Jacopo and wife Rita) has contributed to the growth of the business and over the years Giuseppe has passed down all the know-how and his experience to his son Jacopo. After a partnership negative experience of about 4 years, in 2017 Giuseppe has been obliged to give up the OFFICINA LIBRIS brand in favour of the former partner (that now no longer uses it) and decided to pass the property to Jacopo, who became the new owner and IKUNICO the new brand name.THE CULTURE OF THE "WELL-MADE" The town and the craftsmen's workshop, the urban fabric and the small shop are linked and moulded by the spirit of the place itself. The whole production of IKUNICO takes place here and nowhere else, in the "town of stone", Gubbio, in Umbria, in the center of Italy. This Medieval town is definitely not the mere setting, but the living set-up of the heart of the handmade in Italy. From the belonging to this town the research stubborn and passionate of quality and beauty grows. The culture of "well-made" draws its origin from the Pre-roman society of Ancient Umbrian people: "commitment" is sacred as "divine nature of act". In this a kind of society where human relationships are sacred. In the global market which generates omologation, there are still productive realities, as IKUNICO, where the level of care of the relations is high both for the competences and for the client. THE TRADITIONThe most authentic sense of tradition is not a tired re-proposition of stereotypes, but it is hedged in its dinamism: a costant innovation which modernizes ancient values. THE UNIQUE PIECEThe experience and the creativity of the craftsmen transform the matter into unique pieces, each one different from the other, each one with its own features and shades, each one with its own history, equal only to itself. The challenge is to render things living and speaking, likewise new stories able to satisfy the heart and the mind, beyond the principle of usefulness, and the hasty consumption. In the heart of this process, the Man: the craftsman, nourished by ancient culture and knowledge, creates things for other men, aware of Beauty is an absolute value which goes beyond the usefulness. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITYWe only use leather from the consortium "Pelle conciata al vegetale in Toscana" (Vegetable-tanned leather in Tuscany) which guarantees that the tanning process of the leather is entirely metal-free: only tannins of vegetable origin are used. No animals are slaughtered for tanning. The hides used are a by-product of the food industry, which rather than being sent for disposal are made a noble material. The paper used for notebooks, diaries and photo album is acid-free and also hand-made, obtained by a slow and laborious process similar to that of seven hundred years ago to make it special to the touch and eye and guarantees a greater resistance to light. Our products are entirely plastic free: we are committed to making plastic-free products, and we use biodegradable materials even for the packaging.