The numbers and the history speak for themselves: in the world of fashion, the first companies in the world are Italian. The sector, as a whole, generates 90 billion in turnover, creates 600 jobs and keeps growing exports. Despite being an industry affected by the unfair competition, the goal of big brands and institutions must be to find the right balance between open markets by constantly creating value added.
This is the theme that guided the first one "Appointment with ingenuity: discovering the success factors of Made in Italy in the world", Organized by the Leonardo Committee and hosted by LUISS Guido Carli.
Many guests were present, personal protagonists of Italian fashion, government representatives and outside professionals. However, the message was clear and unambiguous: Italian fashion must be guided in its growth process - as Carlo underlined Capasa, President of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion – from creativity and tradition.
Made in Italy in the fashion field is a success factor linked to excellence, but those who work in the sector do not have to be satisfied with what has been done and give up on improvement. On this issue the Minister of Economic Development Carlo calenda he was very clear, underlining the commitments made by the Government over the past three years: “For decades, politics has been reluctant to deal with fashion, as if it were a superfluous subject, for the rich. But it is exactly the opposite, behind the fashion chain there are many SMEs and one enormous ability to do business on the part of young people".
“The very rapid development of technology – continued Calenda – will ensure that economies of scale will gradually lose value, freeing the creative capacities of even very small companies”.
Today's meeting, strongly desired by Paola Severino and Emma Marcegaglia (Rector and President of Luiss), was born from the need to create a round table within the fashion sector made up of the best brands, to exploit synergies and share know-how and best practices. Minister Calenda expressed his opinion in this regard, highlighting the "lack of an ecosystem capable of increasing creativity and ambitions”.
Satisfaction also expressed by Luisa Todini, president of the Leonardo Committee: "Fashion is a key sector of Italian industry and a flagship of Made in Italy in the world". Todini then positively underlined the collaborative work of companies and institutions and highlighted the perils related to this industry, brand protection and safeguarding authenticity on all.
The interventions of some of the greatest exponents of Italian fashion, from cucinelli to Santo Versace up to Pier Luigi Loro Piana and Nicola Bulgari, have provided a perfect picture of the current situation of the industry as a whole. Shared governance, sustainability and craftsmanship are the factors that must guide the ways of doing business.
A fact common to many of the big fashion brands is the family matrix of the organization. The values of the founders must be carried forward over time, act as guidelines, but at the same time it is necessary to manage the internal structures, to create dynamism and a dense network of commercial relationships with foreign countries.
Calenda himself explained that “provincialism in fashion never pays. You have to maintain your identity, but be open about corporate culture and product design. Wealth is achieved by enabling businesses to invest and hire. A return to protectionism, also from this point of view, would be lethal".
“The Italian Fashion System must safeguard – declared Carlo Marenzi, entrepreneur and President of Confindustria Moda – the production process rather than the final product”. L'craftsmanship must be the focus, and unfortunately in Italy for years now there has been a certain contempt for manual work”.
“Work – said Brunello Cucinelli – should not be considered a stopgap following failure in studies. Dignity drives us to be productive”.
In order for fashion to continue to represent a factor of success and excellence of Made in Italy in the world in the future, all parties involved will need to make the utmost effort to maintain the very high current quality standards, never losing sight of the importance of manufacturing work and being willing – as happened for example in Loro Piana, acquired by the Lvmh group – to welcome investments from abroad, without however ever losing sight of one's own history.
