Made in Italy without Italy? Are we becoming the China of luxury? These are two – legitimate – questions posed at the conference on the “New scenarios of Fashion and Luxury” organized by Pambianco and Intesa Sanpaolo at the Milan Stock Exchange, in the presence of some of the great Italian protagonists of the sector, from Cucinelli to Luxottica, from Salvatore Ferragamo to Renzo Rosso, to Lapo Elkann and many others.
The answer is "no". It would be no because on the one hand, as is now well-known, it is true that more and more Italian brands are bought by foreign groups, in particular by the two main aggregating poles from France, those Lvmh and Kering (formerly Ppr) which alone have a turnover of almost 40 billion euros and own 13 Italian brands of excellence, including Fendi, Bulgari and Gucci; for a total of 27 fashion and luxury companies that have passed into foreign hands since 1999, with a total turnover (of the companies acquired) of almost 10 billion in 2012.
“The school case – illustrated to the audience of Palazzo Mezzanotte David Pambianco vice president of Pambianco – is to Bottega Veneta, which passed into the hands of Kering, has increased its turnover tenfold in just a few years, from 100 million to 1 billion euros”. However, it is also true that other Italian companies did not stand by and did the same abroad, albeit to a lesser extent and by buying companies with lower turnover: since 99 Prada has taken over the English shoe factory Church, Tod's Roger Viver, OTB (Only The Brave, the holding company of Renzo Rosso) Martin Margiela and Viktor&Rolf, but above all Luxottica has filled up with 6 eyewear brands incorporated, including the highly appetizing Ray Ban.
Regardless of ownership, made in Italy would still be safe as long as the know-how remained 100% Italian. The trend, however, is that for which Italy is becoming attractive not only for its prestigious and sought-after brands, but also for its invaluable know-how and the quality of its production chain: and therefore now foreigners not only buy our brands, but come to “manufacture” theirs from us. In other words, they make use of our workers, in particular for the more high-end part of their collections, to produce goods which will then be "made in France", "made in the USA" and so on.
“The total value of the façon – explains Pambianco – in the clothing, footwear and leather goods sectors is estimated at 2,2 billion euros. A fairly high value considering that in the value chain it refers to the first 15% of the cost of the product".
Nothing wrong, apparently, given that indeed the phenomenon of "a façon" production for foreign groups accelerates the growth and turnover of façonista companies, i.e. the artisanal and small ones that make know-how their strength but which remain cut for size reasons out of the big export race. However, the problem could arise in the long term, when there could be the risk that the international consumer, especially the Asian one who continues to dominate this market, starts to attribute more importance to the (foreign) brand and less to the (Italian) production.
“The focus – summarizes Pambianco – would thus pass from 'made in' to 'made by'”. We therefore run the risk not so much that the Bulgari of the moment will be considered French because it was acquired by the French, but rather - and perhaps it would be even worse - that the hypothetical French Bulgari, which will be equivalent to the Italian one by producing in Italy, will be recognized exclusively as French. So yes, goodbye made in Italy. So yes, we would become the China of luxury.
