FLORENCE — Textile executives celebrated a market rebound at the 58th edition of Pitti Filati.
Italian yarn manufacturers were encouraged by increased buyers’ budgets, especially those from Japan and the U.S. who attended the exhibition, held at the Fortezza da Basso fairgrounds here Feb. 1-3. Executives presenting yarns for the spring and summer 2007 season said this would to be a turnaround year for the depressed yarn manufacturing industry.
While many said the more buoyant American and Japanese markets were the main drivers of the upswing in sales, some said low-cost yarn firms also helped.
“Some of our clients from the medium-high level of the market have decided not to go with cheaper yarns sourced outside of Europe, but to come back to our quality noble yarns,” said Luciano Bandi, yarn division director of Loro Piana.
Buyers have been willing to accept a cut in margins to improve quality and sales, added Bandi. Loro Piana’s yarn division had a 30 percent increase in sales in 2005 compared with the previous year.
“The Americans and the Japanese have increased their budgets this year,” said Giacomo Festa Bianchet, chief executive officer of Loro Festa.
But others said lower-priced yarns still threatened the industry. “Yes, we’ve had midpriced labels come back to us for cashmere and wool yarns, but plenty of bad cashmere is still being sold in the U.S.,” said Massimiliano Zegna Baruffa, ceo of Zegna Baruffa. “It’s destructing the product’s luxury cachet.”
Some American buyers at the fair were keen on sourcing natural fiber yarns from Italian mills.
“We always hope to continue our Italian merino program, which we’ve had a lot of success with,” said Kristin Schmidt, technical design and development manager for Target Stores in Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, new technology and fabrics intrigued other buyers at Pitti Filati.
Lineapiù has developed a pen in collaboration with Kodak that has a special treatment that allows the DNA of a fabric to be read, ultimately determining the fabric’s origins. Any type of yarn can be treated with the odorless, invisible and nonremovable identifying treatment, said ceo Lola Coppini, who added it would increase the yarn’s cost by 3 to 5 percent.
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Lineapiù also presented a polyethylene and viscose blend yarn that can be creased into shape with steam and then washed out so that it returns to its original form. Coppini said the company was preparing to present its first yarn collection for its Chinese mill, Fenix, in March at Spin Expo.
“But we are satisfied with the response from Pitti Filati for our main line,” Coppini said. “Our American clients consider it necessary now to include a part of Made in Italy yarns in their collections.”
Olimpias hopes to capture some of the U.S. market, which is showing renewed strength. Olimpias, owned by the Benetton Group, will open a New York showroom this spring.
“Benetton has started to pick up its sales across the board and it’s a good indication for us to move into the U.S., which is becoming more important for us now,” said Antonio Carli, commercial director for the Olimpias yarn division.
The company expects to increase its 2005 volume of 80 million euros, or $95 million, by 5 percent in 2006, through increased sales to U.K. knitwear manufacturers producing garments in Romania and Bulgaria.
Trends at Pitti Filati focused on natural yarns with unexpected elements.
Cariaggi’s sparkly collection of yarns included a superfine cotton and linen blend woven with micro paillettes and cashmere, and mixed with Lurex in natural hues of oat, off-white and pale beige. The mill also showed gauze-like vicuna brushed yarn, which was in a blonder version of the natural vicuna caramel color.
Loro Festa’s cotton printed yarns in tennis green, yellow and fuchsia had what the company refers to as a wet finish. The technique was explained in instructions and a product sample was given to clients.
“The Chinese don’t give this sort of customer service,” said Festa Bianchet.
Moving slightly away from the classic yarns Loro Piana has presented in the past, the company introduced fantasy yarns in silk and printed jersey cashmere for spring and summer 2007.
“I was used to going to the clients and them guiding us. Now they are loving our version of luxury fantasy yarns,” said Bandi.
Buyers at the fair were searching for rich textures in natural cotton, wool and silk yarns.
“We are on the lookout for vibrant jewel tones in fantasy yarns that are breathable and lightweight,” said a buyer for Harriet Moss Designs, based in McClean, Va. “We like the alpaca and viscose stretch yarns we have seen as well as space-dyed yarns that have a multicolor effect.”