MILAN — Italian yarn manufacturers gearing up for the upcoming Pitti Filati show are expecting to make a comeback in 2006 after weathering three years of steady declines.
Executives preparing to exhibit spring and summer yarns for 2007 at the show were upbeat that more sophisticated knitwear-driven silhouettes on the designer runways, combined with reawakening Japanese and U.S. markets, would translate into greater interest in Italian mills. Dissatisfaction with low-cost yarn manufacturers was also working to their benefit, some noted. The show will be held at the Fortezza da Basso fairgrounds in Florence from Feb. 1-3,
“It’s a good moment,” said Mila Zegna Baruffa, marketing director of Zegna Baruffa. “We have clients coming back to us after trying lower-cost yarns produced in other countries because they are after the quality and the fantasy again.”
Luciano Bandi, yarn division director of Loro Piana, said, “We are really optimistic and enthusiastic about this year. We’ve already had jumps in our orders. There’s an increased need for knitwear that wasn’t there before.”
However, the threat of competition from low-cost producers, particularly in China, still tempers thoughts of reaping extraordinary sales figures in 2006.
“The fact is, China and other low-cost competition are still a worry, but 2006 will be nice and stable for us,” said Stefano Borsini, president of Igea. “Europe is still on hold, but the American market has come back.”
A continuing theme of natural fibers is set to dominate many collections, with combinations of cashmere, wool, cotton, silk, linen and hemp yarns expected to be important. The natural-based yarns exhibit an organic look and feel, with earth tones and a dry, raw-like hand.
Zegna Baruffa led the natural-yarn trend with its new superfine cashmere and wool yarns that are machine washable.
“Our aim was that you could treat this woolen sweater as you would a T-shirt,” said Baruffa.
The Biella-based mill has also produced some new, ultrafine crepes, including wool and viscose and wool and cotton blends. Working off a Cinderella theme, the mill has produced a series of textured linen, cotton and wool mixed yarns dyed in hues of gray and blue. On the other end of the scale are cashmere and silk and silk and wool yarns in rich shades of pink, violet and sky blue.
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Also hoping for ongoing success in 2006 is Piacenza-based Emilcotoni. The cotton yarn producer ended 2005 with a 20 percent increase in sales to Japan and U.S. markets, and anticipates surpassing those results this year. Japanese buyers are expected to snap up its new Egyptian blend of two cottons called super piuma. According to director Lorenzo Struzzi, super piuma is similar in quality to Sea Island Cotton, with a cashmere hand, but much lighter weight and lower price. The company will present the cotton in 50 colors.
Emilcotoni was also inspired by fairy tales this season and opened up its looms to another precious natural fiber — gold. The 18-karat fine yarn will be available in an opaque or lucid finish and will sell for 35,000 euros, or about $42,490 at current exchange, a kilo.
“The beauty of this gold yarn is it’s not heavy and metallic, just a brilliant new way of spinning gold,” said Struzzi. “We expect to sell it to luxury fashion houses who want to add touches to accessories or apparel.”
Loro Piana has experimented with some new performance yarns, moving slightly away from the classic ones the mill has presented in the past. Among its new collection is a viscose and cotton yarn, treated so once it’s worn the fabric cools down 5 degrees, keeping the wearer comfortable during hot summer days. Loro Piana has also developed a technique of spinning bamboo so it has a particular fine, light and natural finish, as opposed to old spinning methods that rendered the fiber synthetic looking. The company will also show some paper-like, distressed-look silk yarns and a heavyweight linen yarn.
Igea will show a bamboo yarn as well with a soft hand and draping ability, mixed with a fine copper thread to give it a crumpled effect. The mill reinterpreted silk to give it a contrasting bulky look, feather-light weight and fresh hand in petal pink, coral and grass green.
Also proposing natural yarns in innovative ways is Loro Festa. Giacomo Festa Bianchet, chief executive officer, said the company will showcase an extra-fine carded angora, viscose and cotton yarn with only 15 percent angora.
“You feel the softness of the angora, but it is not hairy like traditional angora yarns. When knitted it’s really beautiful,” said Bianchet.
Loro Festa’s spring-summer collection shines with colors like violet, yellow and red.
“I’ve spent some time in Paris seeing some designers and everyone is happy with the market,” he said. “We are receiving orders earlier than usual so it’s a good sign this year will be a successful one, finally.”
Hemp and linen are the two main stars of Lanerossi’s new yarns. The line has combined linen with wool and cotton with soft, hand-dyed earth colors, in addition to mixing cotton with 25 percent hemp, to give an organic finish in sand and beige tones.
Eugenio Piscopo, product manager of Filivivi, which owns Lanerossi, said the mill also played with traditional fibers, weaving cotton with 10 percent cashmere to achieve a sportier style yarn. Filivivi’s synthetic-based yarn line Martex will show cotton and viscose woven specifically with acrylic to attain mélange color effects. Piscopo said Filivivi, which was restructured last year, managed to increase volume by 5 percent in 2005 thanks to its three yarn lines that cover classic, trendy and technical looks at different price points. The company is hoping for further growth in Asian and U.S. markets this year.
“We believe it’s a good time to move forward in these markets with our reorganized product, after the positive signs everyone is talking about,” said Piscopo.