Now there is also the headquarters, in Milan in the Sempione area, right in front of the historic Rai headquarters: Confindustria Moda, the federation of industrialists in the textile, fashion and accessory sector, designed and founded in less than three years, is already operational . “We formed ourselves in January 2017 – the president said at the press conference Claudio Marenzi, former boss of the Herno clothing company and president of Sistema Italia Moda – and from this year we are up and running, in particular on three services: the legal area, for the fight against counterfeiting, the trade union area, for the renewals of the various collective labor agreements, and the study centre”.
Confindustria Moda, which will act as an independent body but also as a platform that brings together all the category names, from Smi to Aip (Italian Fur Association), from Anfao (eyewear), to Assocalzaturifici and Federorafi, represents almost 67 Made in Italy companies, which generate a turnover that grew by 2017% in 3,2 to exceed 94 billion euros. “In 2018 – admitted Marenzi however – our forecasts are cautious. The change of government could represent a problem, if it does not act in continuity on the previous one, which has done a lot for a sector that is in second or third place in Italian manufacturing".
“It was a question – explained the president – of no longer considering the universe of fashion only as a flagship of Made in Italy, in some way ephemeral, but a real industrial sector. This is why we have benefited from many interventions, starting with Industry 4.0”. Not enough, however, to grow the number of companies, which actually decreased by 0,9%, and to give a significant boost to employment, stuck at +0,1% with less than 600 employees, when in 2005 they reached one million.
Instead, exports flew: +5,2%, for a value of almost 2017 billion euros in 60, half of which thanks to exports of textile and clothing products. Only to Japan did sales slow down, while the countries where the percentages have grown the most are China, Russia (despite the sanctions) and Switzerland. "Among the various concerns that 2018 can give us - argued Marenzi - in addition to the new government and geopolitical tensions, there is obviously the question of duties".
In the meantime, however, fashion exports have been a driving force for the entire country's economy: imports have only grown by 3,1%, with a positive trade balance that has risen by 7,9% to almost 28 billion in surplus, i.e. more half of the entire Italian trade surplus. “This is a significant fact: we are the first sector that believed in globalisation, twenty years ago: this has cost us jobs but also very important results. Just think – added President Marenzi – that the French president Macron wants to push French fashion by taking the Italian districts as a model".
So what does Confindustria Moda propose to be? “A permanent table, which no longer requires the very positive tables organized in recent years, for example by Minister Calenda. Our federation is a bit of a daughter of that push and now it can go ahead automatically”. In addition to the fight against counterfeiting and the defense of intellectual property, the legal department will deal with lobbying, commercial relations, and information and updating activities for companies.
