Fashion grows, fashion attracts tourism, fashion fascinates and from today, Wednesday, fashion is queen in Milan. The fashion week, with the women's collections for spring-summer 2016-17, opens with 176 brands and 31 special events, anticipated by the Fashion night out which monopolized the city of Milan on Tuesday notes.
The phenomenon is creative, artistic, social and certainly economic: in the semester, the export of women's fashion rose by 2,8%, expanding Made in Italy in the world with a trade surplus of 1,6 billion in the period. Furthermore, fashion is growing at double the Italian GDP with a turnover of the fashion system as a whole estimated at 83,6 billion, an improvement of 1,4%. It is one point less than the +2,4% of 2015 but almost double compared to the Italian economy. In exports, Europe loses share but the share of the USA rises (+17%). These are the most recent data processed by the Italian Chamber of Fashion on an Istat basis.
While Armani, Prada, Versace, Genny, Diesel, Byblos, Blumarine, Trussardi, Disquared, Cavalli, Ferretti, Pucci, Philosophy – to name just a few of the most high-sounding names – warm up the catwalks and events and exhibitions multiply (today Prime Minister Renzi inaugurates "Crafting the future: stories of craftsmanship and innovation), the positive trend of Italian fashion is also expected in the second half of the year "despite the persistence of an extremely complex economic and political framework in the international arena" specify the researchers of Sistema moda Italy.
The luxury picture is more complex: global growth continues as demonstrated by the EY study presented in preview and dedicated to "The luxury and cosmetics financial factbook 2016", with analyzes and statistics on the main listed companies in the luxury and cosmetics sector, on the main performance and evaluation parameters, on the M&A market trends.
However, the research shows that in 2015 the luxury goods market recorded a 13% growth, mainly due to favorable exchange rates, while at constant exchange rates the improvement stopped at +1%.
The case of the cosmetics sector is different, which recorded a growth of +4%, also driven by the emerging economies which account for 2/3 of the total increase.
Finally, there is a consistent growth in digital distribution channels: the consumer is increasingly evolved, attentive, socially responsible and "multi-channel", highlights the EY relationship.
“Beyond the exchange rate effect that positively influenced 2015 – comments Roberto Bonacina, Partner EY TAS Fashion & Luxury – the luxury goods market as a whole is showing marginal growth rates. Geopolitical instability, the lower growth of emerging markets, China in particular, and the progressive saturation of Western markets are inevitably slowing down their development. It is no longer time to rush to retail, but to redefine distribution models that take into account the "digital disruption" underway in many sectors. The consumer has evolved: he has become more attentive, sophisticated, socially responsible and interested in the quality of what he buys. It is up to companies in the sector to create an ecosystem made up of product quality, communication and social media to ensure consumers' attention and guide their purchasing decisions in a constantly evolving competitive context”.
