The story of Colomer Munmany begins with a love story. In the Spanish city of Vic, in 1884, Josep Colomer I Costa was born. Colomer would grow up to live a life marked by a bold entrepreneurial spirit and a strong sense of initiative, training as a blacksmith. At the end of the 18th Century Colomer fell in love, marrying Carme Munmany, a union that would abide for centuries as the Colomer Munmany Group.
Even then, Munmany’s family was one with a long history in the leather industry, running a family tannery at the forefront of the tanning and leather-making specialism the region was known for. A year after Colomer’s marriage to Munmany, she inherited her family’s tannery and together they brought their entrepreneurial skills to bear, founding the Colomer Munmany Group.
Munmany was well established even when Colomer entered the business, having been founded in 1792. Together, Munmany and Colomer went on to have three sons, Andreu, Rafel and Ramon, who later inherited the family business. Andreu Colomer became the firm’s managing director in 1936, and from there the business grew into a successful international company known for the fine quality of its leather.
Colomer Munmany has built a global business and reputation by combining those centuries of experience with the latest expertise and developments in the field.
A Historic Brand for the Future
It is this combination of tradition and innovation that has inspired the company division, Colomer 1792. It is a brand that draws on over 200 years of history and experience as a specialist in Spanish sheepskin and a global leader in the market. Indeed, Colomer 1792 is one of the longest established tanneries in the world, with deep roots in its hometown’s rich tradition of tanning and leather-making.
Vic’s leathermaking industry has even deeper roots, with its first leather guilds being founded as far back as 1438, and accounts existing of the industry as early as 1147.
That leadership status is not just a product of its history, but of the firm’s continuous development and investment in research and development. But even that commitment to innovation is nothing new.
In 1858, chromium salts were introduced to the industry, and it was an opportunity Munmany grasped with both hands, transforming tanning from a finely honed art into an exact science. At the beginning of the 20th century, the firm hired Manuel Portavella as the company’s first registered chemist and technical director.
Portavella went on to build a team that would develop their own technologies, including new beamhouse processes. That team pioneered sulphur tanning for dry pickling, white tanning for gloving, and the application of sodium silicate in the manufacture of softer items of clothing. It was the pioneering of that final process that solidified Colomer Munmany’s reputation as the best producer of entrefino leather for gloves and garments. 
By the 1960s Colomer Munmany operated tanneries across Spain, including Baumann, Ciesa and Anonima Lanera. Each of these tanneries specialised in different leather goods, building up generations of expertise. Alongside these, Colomer Munmany ran the leather trading companies Curtidos Barcino, Curtidos del Norte and Curtidos del Sur.
At the same time as Colomer Munmany was expanding its own business, the company was also sharing the wealth of knowledge it had acquired with others in the industry. The firm provided technical assistance to big names in the tannery industry such as Hellenic Tanneries in Greece, Tanneries Libano Espagnoles in Lebanon, Nabegu in Kano, Nettletons & Porters in the UK and Xing Tai in China.
By now the company had grown to a workforce of 1,000 workers in Catalonia alone, and was producing more than 50,000 skins a day. But the story of Colomer Munmany was far from finished being written.
A New Era of Growth
In 2009, Colomer Munmany’s story entered a new era as the Colomer Group was bought by the Chinese company Henan Prosper Group, the largest sheepskin producer in the world. This acquisition would consolidate the leadership and expertise of both companies, laying the foundations for further growth and investment. It opened the way to a series of manufacturing and sales facilities investments which continues to this day.
A double face production line was established in 2010, which was then further enhanced with a nappa production line and skin processing plant. Colomer Munmany then acquired a new beamhouse, as well as facilities for calfskin and goatskin to aid shoe leather production. To that, a wool supply line was added, leading to the opening of the Colomer Wool Trade Department in 2011. 
Not long after that, the company opened a new state-of-the-art water treatment plant. In 2018 the Fellmongery II plant was established, a wastewater treatment system covering 166,000 square metres with a daily processing capacity of 40,000 tonnes, recycling and reusing 30% of its water.
But as the industry continued to evolve, so did the need for more environmentally sustainable practices. By 2020, Colomer 1792’s production systems had been improved with better pipelines that reduced water consumption, to support the company’s increased focus on ‘eco-tanning’ as it sought to lead the leather industry in sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Moving Forward
In pursuing these goals for the future, Colomer Munmany’s long history has taught it the value of cooperating with industry partners.
Thanks to the considerable joint production capacity of Colomer Munmany and Henan Prosper, further expansion is on the cards. Looking to the future, Colomer Munmany is planning to use its European sales office as a base to launch further cooperation with partners across Europe, North Africa, South America and Turkey. Through that international collaboration, Colomer Munmany believes it can offer even better service to its customers in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.
As Gil Font, Managing Director of Colomer 1792 has said, “We invite our customers to visit our showroom and see our facilities, which demonstrate not only the diversity of our products, but also our ability to assemble bespoke collections for them. We think that, in the wake of COVID-19, this kind of close cooperation will be one of the key components of a successful partnership and market recovery.”
But as well as inviting customers to come and see its work, Colomer Munmany is also going on the road. At last year’s July edition of Première Vision in Paris, Colomer 1792 was one of the exhibitors, showcasing the brand’s highly anticipated Autumn/Winter 2025/2026 leather collection. It is a collection that highlights Colomer Munmany’s commitment to sustainability and innovation, as well as the variety of luxurious textures, rich colours and eco-friendly materials it has to offer. It is a vision that could easily take it into the next 200 years.
