Economic conditions appear to be improving for Italian yarn spinners, who will show their spring 2016 collections at the Pitti Filati yarn fair Jan. 28 to 30 at the Forte Basso in Florence.
While exports grew in a continuing trend from previous seasons, domestic Italian sales rebounded, growing 7 percent from April to September compared with the same period in 2013, according to the Italian fashion and textile consortium Sistema Moda Italia. By comparison, overall sales for Italy’s apparel and textile industry grew 3.4 percent in the first nine months compared to a year prior.
“What is very interesting is that a trend toward reshoring has been confirmed,” said Raffaello Napoleone, chief executive officer for the fair organizer Pitti Immagine.
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Napoleone said Pitti Filati has added several new brands to its 138 exhibitors this edition. He is expecting about 4,000 buyers, roughly 1,700 of whom he expects to be from abroad.
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Napoleone said a tendency to take production back to Italy, particularly for high-end products, is gathering momentum, generating a “positive effect on production and sales” for yarn, fabrics and other areas of the fashion supply chain.
Meanwhile, Italian yarn exports edged up 1.2 percent to 1.29 billion euros, or $1.52 billion, from January to September, while yarn imports grew 4.1 percent to 1.24 billion euros, or $1.46 billion, in the same period in 2013.
Napoleone described himself as “moderately optimistic” for 2015, a sentiment largely, but not universally echoed by executives.
“Our turnover in 2014 went pretty well and was in line with our expectations,” said Silvio Botto Poala, ceo of premium yarn maker Botto Giuseppe, which specializes in super fine wool, precious cashmere and silk.
Botto Poala said 2014 sales were 57 million euros, or $67.3 million, and saw the strengthening of the dollar against the euro as a potential boost for sales abroad and a competitive advantage for prices, since his firm exports 70 percent of its production. The company also saw room for improved margins, since the cost of some raw materials, like Australian merino wool, has declined over the last two years due to slack demand.
Rob Langtry, chief strategy and marketing officer of The Woolmark Co., the marketing arm for Australian wool growers, explained the oversupply of merino wool is due to a fashion trend in the last two years toward puffier yarns.
“In the Nineties through to around 2012- 2013 we saw the rapid escalation in the use of layering in fashion,” Langtry said. “By definition that saw a growth in demand for finer micron wool for finer knits and in base layers for the harsher climates.”
Producers of coarser wool types responded with finer handles and fashion moved to “light but bulkier knits,” creating an oversupply of finer micron wools. But Langtry said the traditional winter seasonality and applications of fine wool is breaking down, as wool is increasingly used for spring and fall, as well, and as a replacement for manmade fibers in technical garments. He explained that flat and circular knit advances have led to recognition of wool’s “natural stretch recovery, thermal properties, UV and water resistance.”
“We expect to see a more positive environment for wool yarn sales” as a result, he said.
A superfine merino wool yarn called Skin — a soft, light, machine-washable yarn finer than cashmere — will be among the yarns shown for the warm season by Botto Giuseppe. Most of Botto Giuseppe’s summer fare will consist of silks and silk blends, such as Morea, a silk and cotton blend available in 25 colors, part of the firm’s signature 360 Gradi collection, in which a single yarn is used and manipulated to make coordinated textiles of different materials, such as jersey, woven fabric and knits at the Botto Giuseppe mills.
At Lanificio dell’Olivo, sisters Ilaria and Chiara Taddeucci, who run the family firm, agree that the strength of the dollar should help exports and improve margins. Their firm ships about 60 percent of its product across national borders. Nevertheless, the sisters expect 2015 sales to be stable with 2014, at around 20 million euros, or $23.6 million, largely due to trouble with the Italian domestic market, where they say tight bank credit still throttles sales potential.
Lanificio dell’Olivo will be showing structured yarns that evoke the colors and irregular textures of nature, such as sand, rock, rust and copper green. Whether puffy, kinky or rough-looking, irregular 3-D surfaces will dominate. Much of the new collection will contain organic cotton and be elasticized for comfort. The company will also be flaunting its certified, fully traceable supply chain.
The strong dollar is more headache than benefit for the head of premium yarn maker Lineapiù Italia. Ceo and president Alessandro Bastagli said prices on key precious raw materials for his firm, namely mohair and alpaca, already underwent major price increases over the course of 2014 and are bought in dollars.
“With the dollar increasing in value by 15 to 18 percent, mohair and alpaca prices have about doubled” compared to 2013, said Bastagli, who added that costs would be largely passed on in higher yarn prices, but could also take a bite out of profits. Bastagli said he would be able to contain prices for the moment, thanks to Lineapiù’s stockpile.
Lineapiù will be showing its collection of largely viscose-based yarns and also promoting its new Knit Art line for hand-knitting. Bastagli said hand-knitting is on the rise, particularly in German-speaking countries, and that the line could grow over the course of two to three years from three percent of Lineapiù total sales to 10 percent.
Lineapiù sold about 10 to 11 percent more yarn in 2014 compared to 2013, in value and volume, despite an economic climate Bastagli said was “not splendid, generally speaking.” He reported 2014 sales of 41.8 million euros, or $49.4 million and 1,040 kilograms, or 2,293 pounds.
Federico Gualtieri, vice president of premium yarn maker Filpucci, also doubted the significance of official indicators in an outlook he saw as still deeply uncertain.
“Despite the positive statistics of the year that just ended, the future remains difficult to read,” Gualtieri said. “The lack of certainty pervades the global economy, [which is] at the mercy of constant turmoil. Not even the U.S. is exempt from such problems.”
Filpucci will be showing finely worked viscose with crunchy, rippling, sandblasted or luminous effects, with airy shells or velvety feels that are machine washable. Fiber hybrids and unconventional effects will also be a theme, like the superfine hemp-based yarn Manila, or Schiuma, a natural technical yarn made of linen and caoutchouc rubber, and paper-like makò cotton.
AT A GLANCE
• Pitti Filati
• Forte Basso, Florence, Italy
• Jan. 28 and 29: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Jan. 30: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.