MILAN — Textile-makers at Milano Unica are taking the latest crisis caused by the Chinese economic slowdown in stride and by rolling up their sleeves.
“We are surrounded by bad news, but we survived after Sept. 11, [2001], we survived the bank crisis and we are still here,” Milano Unica’s newly appointed president, Ercole Botto Poala, who is also chief executive officer of Biella, Italy-based mill Reda, said at the three-day fair that ended Sept. 10. “This is a time of great change, but we still need to work on seizing the great opportunities.”
Italian textiles firms are facing another complicated year with export and industrial production data in the first half revealing that fabrics experienced a downturn.
According to Sistema Moda Italia and Italian statistics office Istat, there was a decline of 4.1 percent in Italian industrial production of textiles in the first six months of the year, while exports fell 2.3 percent between January and May versus the same period last year.
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In the first five months of 2015, exports to Germany registered a decline of 8.3 percent, while the U.S. and China, the fourth- and fifth-largest market outlets for Italian fabrics, showed an increase of 15.2 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively.
Top companies showcasing their fall 2016 collections here said that the key to averting crisis involves having a geographic balance commercially.
Tollegno 1900 ceo Lincoln Germanetti said his company books evenly about one-third of its sales in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, including China.
“We see double-digit growth in revenues in 2015,” Germanetti said.
With many Italian brands looking to the U.S. market to drive sales, Milano Unica, as a part of its global strategy, has brought its brands closer to potential U.S. clients by launching a spin-off fair that debuted in New York in July.
“There are good signs that the [apparel] manufacturing industry in the U.S. is recovering and that will bode well for the vitality of Italian textile-makers,” said Pier Luigi Loro Piana of Loro Piana, noting that exports of wool fabrics and yarn in the first five months of the year outperformed other materials like silk and cotton.
Between January and May, worsted wool was up 4.9 percent and carded yarns rose 8.4 percent, faring better than other fabrics like pure silk, down 2.6 percent, and cotton fabrics, which fell 7.7 percent.
“We believe the second half of 2015 will be positive,” said Loro Piana. “Our orders this year are considerably higher than last year,”
Echoing this ethos of U.S.-Italian reciprocity was the presence of American executives such as Steven Kolb, president and ceo of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and Millard “Mickey” Drexler, chairman and ceo of J. Crew, who presided over the inaugural events.
Drexler unveiled a lighthearted film illustrating J. Crew’s revisited casual American spirit. In the video, J. Crew underscored that its easy designs are crafted with fabrics, listing their Italian partners in the film.
“We didn’t carry many Italian fabrics when we first started off…but now your names are planted in our garden,” Drexler told the crowd.
The 21st edition of Milano Unica hosted 404 exhibitors, down from 410 last September. Milano Unica said the number of Italian visitors slid 10 percent, while the number of visiting companies fell to 6,322 from 7,122 a year ago. However, organizers stressed that its new Prima Milano Unica fair in July featuring pre-collections from 706 companies, which saw the fall winter pre-collections in advance, and when figures are combined, the total of visitors would be 7,028.
At the heart of the trade grounds, Milano Unica expanded its trend section. Organized by artistic director Stefano Fadda, the expanded space included artistic exhibits and a video illustrating the motifs of the season, which mirrored the Arctic and folk worlds and graphic and “playroom” colors.
In terms of innovation, performance finishes and bonding treatments featured across collections of luxury wool-makers, including Reda, Vitale Barberis Canonico and Larusmiani.
Silk weaver Canepa said that as a result of its Save the Water project, it has found a way to rid polyvinyl alcohol FVA, fixative and bleaches from its textile production process by using naturally occurring, nontoxic substances. Canepa has forged a partnership with Italdenim to produce 6 million meters of denim annually.
Organic fabrics were introduced at Loro Piana, which exhibited cashmere finished with the “Zibeline” technique that gives wool materials a soft, furry texture.
Larusmiani introduced a flourine-free, water-repellent finish for all fabrics as well as luxurious machine-washable denim made in conjunction with The Woolmark Co. available in compositions like stretch wool, silk, cashmere and cotton.
Satellite events included an open-air fashion show in Via Montenapoleone, which Milano Unica hosted in collaboration with Woolmark, Larusmiani’s Guglielmo Miani and the Via Montenapoleone Association. The runway event, dubbed “On Stage,” featured the designs of young and emerging designers.
There was also a 10-year collaboration anniversary celebration for creative textile specialist Bonotto SpA and Portugese textile-maker Riopele. Held at Bonotto’s Milan showroom on Via Durini, the event featured installations from Portuguese designer Nuno Baltazar, along with designs from three Università Iuav di Venezia students that used Bonotto textiles in their designs.