Chanel has acquired a stake in Italian tannery Samanta, a specialist in printed leather, as it continues to secure its supply chain in the face of a growing shortage of high-quality leather.

In a rapidly changing luxury market and leather industry, the two companies have decided to join forces to help Samanta further develop its unique offering, recognized by the biggest names in luxury. For Chanel, Samanta’s expertise and technical know-how represents a real added value for the leather industry as a whole.

Samanta’s expertise in printed leather will be especially useful for Chanel, which announced last year that it would no longer use exotic skins including crocodile, lizard, snake and stingray, and would instead rely on the know-how of its in-house ateliers to create high-end products.

Chanel more than doubled investment last year, spending more than $1 billion to make sure it remains at the top of the luxury pyramid. It devoted $234 million to acquisitions in 2018, including $90 million for Spanish tannery Colomer Leather Group.