“What are we coming to do at Furniture expo of Milan, to spend unsustainable amounts?” many Italian furnishing SMEs have let the organizers know in recent months. “Especially if i foreign buyers which interest us the most, i.e. the Chinese, Asian and Russian ones? We will do at most the fuorisalone”. What a colossal mistake!
I Chinese – as expected – as soon as the country reopened, I am returned, and they are always more buyers spendthrift of the world. So these SMEs, with their fake antiques and somewhat tacky luxury – and which export a lot (thanks to the past Furniture Fairs) - have been proven wrong. “Ungrateful. They have been pampered and exalted by the Italian and international press – angrily hisses a furniture maker from Brianza who wishes to remain anonymous – and above all they have been super-favored by the Salone which even reserved for them the very coveted first pavilions, those right at the entrance to the Milan Fair. But them now they snub the Salon, that Salone without which they would still be small, unlucky carpentry workshops that made stylish furniture. They don't come because they say they are now in the luxury Premium range, they have showrooms all over the world, they sell even without the Salone". They will do the “Fuorisalone”, says the furniture maker from Brianza. Many here in and around Milan feel the same way and are anxiously awaiting the presentation press conference to be held in Milan on Wednesday 15 February, in front of journalists arriving from all over the world. Because, suddenly, that successful event that was there Design Week, imitated all over the world, seems to have entered a crisis, at least in its downward phase. But is it really so?
Less gigantism more eco-sustainability
Last December, the president Mary Porro had announced that the2023 edition – which will take place from 18 23 to April – will be completely new, more compact, on a single floor, entirely sustainable with the appropriate certification, with exhibition itineraries mixed with works of art, cultural events, rest areas, especially as regards the biennial Euroluce fair which will not have traditional stands but a large semi-circular space. ”We started the change with euroluce“, explained Porro, “because light, being immaterial, gives many possibilities to work on a project of this kind in a short time. Light is the design field that has the most patents. In furniture, on the other hand, there is a need for more conventional stands: it is difficult to display furniture without a space with right angles. Euroluce 2023 will therefore be an experiment that we will evaluate. It is a major investment for the Exhibition which in a complex moment invests in a profound reflection on the future of the exhibition model".
Costs too high for SMEs
Behind this total change, there are the renunciations of many small and medium-sized companies bent by the heavy difficulties caused by Covid and the subsequent lockdown that blocked entire continents such as Asia in 2022. But also of some – few – famous brands, often controlled by foreign financial companies, with excesses of snobbery (“who needs the Salone? We don't, we don't”). The sector is made up of SMEs which for i Costs of raw materials, energy, transport and for inflation, is unable to bear the onerous costs investments for participation in the Milan Design Week which is not made up only of the Salone, but also of the Fuorisalone with its side dish of events (and many vanities and glitter), with the exorbitant prices of hotels, restaurants and services of a city that becomes extremely expensive.
And the Chinese? They come more than before
“They're back, of course” he reveals to us Roberta Mutti, architect and influencer. “To the latest edition of Homi, the housewares fair that was recently held in Milan, there were many Chinese as well as American buyers. The day after Xi Jinping announced the opening up of China after the long lockdown, phone calls from Chinese journalists and operators arrived in droves asking how to return to Milan in April and how to receive invitations and news for the event".
And the widespread use, during the lockdown, of virtual, online events that have spread to all countries and which seem to have conquered young people? "It's not like that, the formula of traditional events is really liked by young people, who in the name of eco-responsible choices, want to touch, see, get to know the products live, verify their ecological requirements, disposal conditions, reparability".
The Fairs are back, the real ones
"interzum, the number 1 fair for technologies and machinery for furniture - adds Mutti - has already reached the number of exhibitors pre-Covid and Italian exhibitors occupy 22 square meters. All American trade shows have reverted to the physical version after research on the sentiment of operators (visitors and exhibitors) had shown that the vast majority much preferred them to the online versions. And that it is appropriate to return to the offline exhibition mode is demonstrated by a very recent accurate Chinese study for the powerful China International Fair for Investment & Trade on the opportunity for the transformation from an international exhibition to a "clud" exhibition in the post COVID-19 era. A research behind which there is the global giant of digital platforms, Alibaba. Virtual isn't better, on the contrary (…) There is still a need for the offline mode, which reflects more humanistic factors. Significant project investments also require face-to-face communication, exchange and sustainable trust”.
Hong Kong is giving away 500 flights to the Chinese
“I received confirmation of the return to Italy of Asian and Chinese buyers – he declares Franca Rottola, architect and journalist – a report by the consulting firm Bain & Co., dated February 8, on luxury consumption in China which will resume its upward trajectory before March. And I emphasize that this concerns in particular the Made in Italy:. Bain expects 2023 sales levels to match those of 2021. The fundamentals of consumption in China are still intact, and compared to other emerging markets, China is a luxury growth behemoth. It has more middle- and upper-income consumers, which Bain says will quickly double. I can also anticipate that, based on what I have been able to verify by talking to companies in recent months, the number of those who do not intend to leave the Show at all prevails. And that those who don't come or choose to organize events for the Fuorisalone do so for rather serious economic reasons". A piece of news, adds Rottola, which says a lot about how the desire to travel again has literally exploded in Asia. Hong Kong which represents the beating heart of Chinese business, the day after the announcement of the opening he had decided to give away 500 thousand flights to the Chinese who wanted to leave.
How are the sales going?
The furniture sector keeps its own growth albeit with a strong slowdown in the last months of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. The final data will be communicated on Wednesday 15th but it seems that the furniture sector closed 2022 with a positive growth of 8,5% which has exceeded the pre-Covid one. “2022 was in fact a year of growth for the furniture industry, albeit progressively less dynamic and the entire wood-furniture supply chain should close 2022 with a 12% increase compared to 2021, a record year with revenues for 49 billion euros”, underlines the president of FederlegnoArredo Claudio Feltrin, with one annotation: the boom in the upholstery sector where we really are number 1 in all price ranges for quality, eco-sustainability and innovations.
