There are those who do not hide their pessimism, such as Silvio Albini, CEO of the Albini group, a leading company in high-quality fabrics for shirts and the next president of Milano Unica, who says: "Reality is overcoming fantasy, negatively" and those who, despite everything, still remain optimistic, like Pier Luigi Loro Piana, current president of the Milanese textile fair inaugurated this morning: “2011 – he explains – got off to a very good start, with even double-digit increases in production; orders for the next summer season have kicked off in an almost euphoric way. Then, in August, uncertainty returned, fear for the near future. Sure, it's a situation that makes us very nervous – he admits – but I haven't lost hope of ending the year on a positive note. The Italian textile sector is solid and vital, we must exploit our strengths”.
At the opening of the thirteenth exhibition of Milano Unica, which presents the fabric collections for autumn-winter 2012/2013, the exhibitors, who have come close to 500 visitors, do not feel calm, even if, they say, to have we need to wait until the end of October for clearer ideas on the evolution of the markets in the short-medium term: only then will it be possible to understand with greater certainty how consumers react to general uncertainty, both in Europe and in the United States. “Those who have already placed their orders are calm for this year, 2012 could become difficult”, explains Paolo Zegna, present at Milano Unica a few hours before leaving for China. And he adds: “The greatest uncertainty at the moment concerns retailers, companies that sell through their own stores”. It will be in the next two months that we will understand what influence the rumors circulating on the markets will have on consumers.
The weaving industry (which with 7,65 billion euros in 2010 accounted for 15,4% of the total turnover of the textile-fashion chain) experienced an initial slowdown last April (-1,8% industrial production ), recovered in May (+2,2%) and fell again in June (-3,1%). Overall, however, according to the most recent data released by the Smi study centre, Sistema moda Italia, the first half of the year was saved, with production growing by 3,2% compared to the same period of the previous year, thanks to the good performance of the first three months.
In the first five months of 2011, then, exports also continued to grow: +14,5% however in value. The quantities exported did not go beyond +4,3%. The reason is largely linked to the increases in the prices of raw materials and yarns, and this reduces "in a certain respect the quality of the growth underway" underlines the Centro studi Smi. And while Germany is confirmed as the leading market for Italian fabrics (worth 212 million euros), France (although it has grown by almost 18% to 148 million) is overtaken by China and Hong Kong together, which move into second place (respectively with 77 and 81 million euros). It is no coincidence, therefore, that Milano Unica has announced that it will open its doors in China, with two editions a year.
There is no doubt that the safety valve of Italian textiles and fashion can only be the international markets. Hence the need to invest in promotion. And instead: “We need ICE to be stronger, not to be abolished without being replaced by anything”, Michele Tronconi, president of Smi, asserts forcefully. Result: today companies don't know who to talk to to find out about activities and funding for 2012. In short, a real own goal.
