Jacques Wajs creates a small leather goods workshop for finishing and "trimming" leather. The company worked mostly as a subcontractor for Belgian leather goods manufacturers such as the famous Delvaux.
Jacques Wajs creates a small leather goods workshop for finishing and "trimming" leather. The company worked mostly as a subcontractor for Belgian leather goods manufacturers such as the famous Delvaux.
During the Second World War the company's activities were stopped.
Resumption of the company's activities in a context of a general shortage of leather as a result of the war. To replace leather, imitations or imitation leathers develop, including the famous "Skaï". The success of these new materials is immediate and will constitute the development of the company thanks to the technique of "plastic welding" which opens up new manufacturing possibilities that are more economical than traditional leather working.
The company takes the name of PLASTORIA which recalls the activity of plastic transformation. For the little anecdote, the name comes from the mixture of the words plastic and tratoria, which was Jacques Wajs' favourite restaurant.
In 1965 PLASTORIA began distributing its products in the business gift sector and developing annual collections aimed at the specific gift market. It was also in this year that the company created the folding cap, which was a huge success with hundreds of thousands of pieces sold.
Michel Wajs, Jacques' son, joins the company after completing his studies as a management engineer and begins a gradual transformation of the company. Since that time PLASTORIA has always strived for organizational excellence, focusing on attention to detail in product development but also in the precision of its deliveries. Michel was soon joined by his sister Hélène, who was to focus on product development.
The company's first participation in the PSI, the company will gradually focus on the business gifts activity. The creative department is growing in importance, with increasingly attractive collections. PLASTORIA gradually abandons the subcontracting / manufacturing activity.
In order to counter competition from Asian products, the company started "continuous printing" of logos, which were very fashionable at the time for business gifts. The production is oriented towards highly personalized small and medium series production. This gives an advantage over products imported from Asia.
Still with the aim of differentiating itself, the company signs a first licensing agreement with Balmain. This first licence will be the first of a long series, at that time the collections are mainly leather goods in imitation leather and also in leather.
Launch of the first pen collections which will quickly become the other pillar of the company's development. At the time, it was customary to say that a business gift was an item with which "you wrote or on which you wrote or in which you put what you wrote": the successful trio of pens, notepads and briefcases. Writing instruments will gradually become central to PLASTORIA's offer.
Signing of the CERRUTI 1881 license, which remains to this day the oldest license in the portfolio. PLASTORIA is very proud to have created long-term partnerships with prestigious brands. This is a sign of recognition of the company's know-how both in terms of product development and management of distribution networks.
Lionel Wajs, Michel's son joins the company after completing his engineering studies.
Faced with the expansion of the activity, PLASTORIA is building a new head office in Brussels. The building is built by the famous architect Marc Corbiau and is in the image of the company, modern and forward-looking. The new head office offers exceptional spaces to the company's employees.
Chloé Wajs, Lionel's sister, joined the company after completing the same studies as her father, and thanks to her experience with major fashion houses, she took over the design department previously managed by Hélène. A more fashionable approach is brought to the development of the collections with an even stronger adequacy to the DNA of the brands as well as a particular care taken to the details and finishes of the products which are always more in tune with the times.
Aware of climate change, the company invested in a solar power plant to significantly reduce its ecological footprint. Today the company produces more than 65% of its energy on an annual basis from its solar power plant. In addition, other changes have been made to reduce CO2 emissions and the impact of climate change. environmental issues such as favouring maritime transport over air transport. A reduction in the use of plastic overwrapping in favour of paper and cardboard.
PLASTORIA separates its retail activities from its business gift activities in order to offer more coherent offers and services to distributors according to their distribution network. The activity of DISTRI-BRANDS increases dramatically under the impetus of Nicolas Boreque, its director.
Launch of THE GIFT gift card and DROP-SHIPPING services. PLASTORIA continues to innovate by offering more and more services to its customers in order to respond most effectively to market demand.
Signing of the HUGO BOSS license which marks a turning point for the company with a development mainly focused on retail development.
As a result of the expansion in the retail writing business since the launch of the HUGO BOSS writing collection. PLASTORIA has signed a new license for the development and distribution of a line of writing instruments and small leather goods with the world famous watch brand FESTINA. This new license will open new perspectives to keep fueling the expansion of PLASTORIA's distribution towards the watch and jewelry retail networks, as well as towards specialized leather goods retailers. More than ever the will is to offer a dense and multi-channel distribution network to our brands in all fields of fashion accessories distribution (writing, HBJO, leather goods, electronics). While maintaining an important expertise in both product development for the different ranges and the quality of our distribution.