MILAN — Italian textile manufacturers set to exhibit at next week’s Milano Unica fair are confident that the sales gains of the first half of the year will carry over and provide a solid close to 2007.
Most executives were also bullish on their expectations for the fair, which will run Sept. 11 to 14 at Milan’s city fairgrounds.
“Unica is getting better in terms of visitors and quality of product,” said Michele Viganò, managing director of Seterie Argenti. “It’s becoming an important fair for us, both for the Italian and foreign markets.”
The mill has already closed its financial year, with volume reaching 23 million euros, or $31.2 million at current exchange, representing a 10 percent increase over 2006 results. Viganò added that the mill, which has been owned by the same family for five generations, recently invested in new digital printing technology.
Buoyed by a 30 percent increase in sales to 18 million euros, or $24.4 million, in 2006, Jackytex, a mill located south of Florence, expects to reach that figure again for 2007. Piero Giacha, Jackytex’s product manager and commercial director, said the year’s strong results came thanks to a renewed interest in jersey fabrics, the mill’s production focus.
“We are confident the new collection to be shown at the fair will bring similar sales results,” said Giacha.
Other executives doubted the Italian textile industry was completely out of danger.
“We don’t have any high expectations for this year. We hope to close equal to 2006,” said Raffaele Riela, managing director of Lanificio Lamberto. “As far as I can see, the industry is still in difficulty. Recently, more mills have closed in Prato.”
Riela added that the mill expected to produce 1.1 million meters of fabric this year.
Meanwhile, for the fifth edition of the fair, Milano Unica organizers will introduce a key layout change, which president Paolo Zegna described as a critical step to assist visiting buyers. Moda In, Prato Expo and Ideacomo will move to the first floor in halls two, four and six, connecting women’s wear fabric producers. In halls one and three on the ground floor, fairs Shirt Avenue and Ideabiella will show men’s wear fabric collections. The fair’s trend area has also been enhanced in size and offer.
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Lighter-weight fall-winter fabrics better adapted to the warmer winters are expected to dominate Milano Unica’s offer, in light of last winter’s poor sales.
“Last fall and winter we suffered because sales in shops were down because of the weather, so this year we have corrected the collection to take into account the milder winters,” said Vincenzo Cangioli, chief executive officer of Prato-based Lanificio Cangioli 1859. “Clients are searching for lighter weights. In the past, there was a clear indication between summer and winter fabrics and that isn’t so anymore.”
“The warmer seasons ensure buyers aren’t requesting warm, thick fabrics,” said Francesca Crespi, ceo of Crespi 1797. “In the past, we’ve suffered during the winter seasons because our product is predominantly spring- or summer-weight cottons, but now our product is more coherent with the season.”
Other Italian mills have branched out from their traditional product offer to reel in more women’s ready-to-wear clients.
Returning to Moda In after an eight-year absence, Mapel, a mill that traditionally specialized in fake fur, will present a fresh direction in 300 ready-to-wear women’s fabrics woven from wool, alpaca, mohair and cotton.
“We are betting on this new direction in order to recoup the Italian and foreign prêt-à-porter market and stimulate sales,” said Luca Grassi, export director for Mapel. “Our product has become too specialist.”
Some of Mapel’s new fabrics include felted cottons brushed to look like fur, reversible wool and waterproof polyester and nylon, as well as double-faced wools and synthetic deer fur.
Shirting mill Canclini has ramped up its women’s fabrics production after the company, which mainly produces men’s textiles, saw a sudden spike in sales to the women’s market.
“Masculine touches to women’s rtw collections has been a strong, continuing trend,” said Mauro Canclini, the mill’s style director. “So, for next fall, we will present around 100 new women’s designs in our stretch cotton fabric.”
Small stripes and jacquards inspired by wallpaper and geometrics will be featured in Canclini’s yarn-dyed fabrics in lilac, bottle green and shades of blue.
Trends at the fair will include a recent catwalk favorite of combining technical, man-made fibers with natural yarns. Crespi 1797 will show a stretch fabric in yarn-dyed hemp blended with nylon, as well as double-faced viscose and wool jacquards, and yarn-dyed cotton and polyester blends. The mill has also put a spin on a velvet polyester fabric for outerwear it sourced from the automobile industry. Fabrics were rendered more breathable with a new nanotechnology treatment the mill developed, alongside a soft antistain, water-repellent fabric coating.
Even jersey fabrics are equipped with technical touches. Some of Jackytex’s jersey in cashmere, wool, cotton, nylon and viscose blends feature soft membrane coatings to render them waterproof, while others were treated to have compact, fuzzy and silk-like finishes.
Embroidery specialists Zibetti & Orsini confronted the trend for minimalist-looking fabrics with clean, small geometrics, tartans and designs inspired by North African carpets embroidered onto silk in bright and sober colors. Giovanni Orsini, head designer and ceo of the Como-based mill, said he experimented with double-faced felted and gauze wools that were melded together with hand-knited effects and decorated with sprinklings of sequins.
Orsini said 2007 “is not the year of embroidery, but this year hasn’t been bad. We have few clients, but they place large orders.”
Seterie Argenti’s printed silk crepes and chiffons will show Art Nouveaus and Liberty style designs, while lace and jersey feature panther and tiger skin digital prints.
Lanificio Lamberto will show double-faced and thicker fabrics for outerwear, many of them treated to be rainproof. The textiles feature wool on the inside and cotton and viscose blends in jacquards with zigzag designs on the outside. Another new finish the mill has utilized renders cotton with a warmer, softer hand. Opposing the ongoing trend for sober colors such as beige, sand and nudes, Lanificio Lamberto will show vividly hued fabrics in jewel colors.