XXIV Milano Unica,An edition in consolidation

by+Flora+Zhao

The 24th edition of Milano Unica， the Italian Textiles and Accessories Trade Show， held at Fiera Milano Rho from February 1 to February 3， closed with general satisfaction of exhibitors， particularly with regard to the quality of the contacts registered thanks to the accurate selection made by the organizers. The result is essentially in line with the February 2016 edition in terms of participation of businesses despite the concurrent Munich Fabric Start trade show， wich resulted in a reduced presence of German operators.

The 25th edition of Milano Unica included 427 exhibitors， 300 of which Italian， 65 European and also 40 Japanese and 22 Korean.

The inauguration ceremony， introduced by Ercole Botto Poala， President of Milano Unica， was attended by： Cristina Tajani， Councilor for Fashion at the Municipality of Milan； Claudio Marenzi， President of Sistema Moda Italia， and Ivan Scalfarotto， Deputy Secretary for Economic Development.

With regard to the participation of foreign businesses， particularly important is the return of companies from the Russian Federation （+34%）. A growing trend was observed in the participation of companies from the UK（+4%）， USA （+2%）， Canada （+29%） and China （+6%）， despite the concurrent occurrence of the Chinese New Year， while participation from the following countries showed a downtrend： （-11%）， Japan （-14%） and Turkey （-1%）. The number of German operators was reduced （- 44%） due to the aforementioned reasons.

“The 25th edition of Milano Unica will be an additional confirmation that the route focusing on innovation and quality – the one that we are consistently pursuing – is the winning one not only from an image perspective， but also in terms of the commercial and marketing results obtained. This route， meant to make Milano Unica the perfect vehicle to showcase the excellence of Madein-Italy and Made-in-Europe production， needs additional action， but we are confident and positive. Milano Unica will increasingly become an exhibition to show excellence， innovation and creativity to the world， confirming that fabrics and accessories – above all those Made in Italy and also a selection of the best Made-in-Europe products – represent the starting point for inspiration of international fashion，” commented the President， Ercole Botto Poala.

“The interest attracted by MU365， an interactive platform reserved to selected customers to establish face-to-face contacts with exhibitors every day， at any time round the clock， created in collaboration with the US Sundar startup， is evidence of our focus on technology， but also of our determination to contribute to the growth of the industry， considering also customers that do not have sufficient resources to participate in the exhibition. This is also a way to attract young talents and create professional opportunities for them， because– as I said at the inauguration ceremony， we as entrepreneurs have a duty to ensure that an entire generation that represents an important part of the future of our planet， is not overlooked. In this respect I invite you all to invest in young talents， adopt a startup， in order to stimulate action. I also would like to underscore the importance of the“Back to School” project， which closed with the enthusiastic success of Sir Paul Smiths presentation before approximately 1，000 students attending international fashion schools. Ahead of us lies the challenge of the July edition， but I am confident that we will face it successfully，” said the President of Milano Unica.

Attention to youth was also confirmed in the “Magazzini Aperti” project– a project developed from the collaboration between Regione Lombardia， Piattaforma Sistema Formativo Moda and Milano Unica， where works by students attending the final year in 10 fashion schools were presented， using fabrics and accessories donated by Milano Unica exhibitors.

“This edition too， supported by the opinion expressed by the various exhibitors and buyers with whom I exchanged information， closes with a positive performance. The work to develop increasingly functional pathways in order to optimize visit time continues with mutual satisfaction of both exhibitors and buyers. This result derives from teamwork， but also from the total dedication of Milano Unica staff members and collaborators，” said Massimo Mosiello， General Director of Milano Unica， at the head of the operational organization of the textiles and accessories trade show since the first edition.

“I would also like to underscore the success of the Trend Area， restyled both in terms of space and creativity， and the consolidation of the Japan Observatory and Korea Observatory， which demonstrated that the complementarity of excellent products represents an added value not only for our visitors but also for our exhibitors. Now our thoughts are already flying ahead to the eleventh edition of Milano Unica China， where we will try to catch up with the reduced number of Chinese visitors due to the concurrent occurrence of the Chinese New Year， and to the 25th edition of the Milanese appointment， scheduled from July 11 to July 13， presenting a preview of FW 2018/2019 collections，” concluded the General Director of Milano Unica.

In addition to the traditional Japanese and Korean Observatories， guest exhibitions dedicated to producers from those countries， selected for their high quality and product suitability， Milano Unica also offers events targeted to young talents， like the “back to School” special， featuring Sir Paul Smith， who will lead a seminar on “You can find inspiration in everything” workshop， dedicated to students of fashion schools （February 1， h 5：30 p.m.， Auditorium Centro Servizi）； “Magazzini Aperti” that showcases the projects developed by seniors from 10 selected schools in a space inside Pavilion 12. Fabrics and accessories are provided by Milano Unica exhibitors thanks to the collaboration established between the Lombardy Region， the Piattaforma Sistema Formativo Moda and Milano Unica.

The TREND VILLAGE is the throbbing heart of the exhibition， where everything revolves around trends. It includes the super-colorful and technological Trend Area， and also features dedicated spaces for infostyle， the specialist press with their insiders fashion-trend info and the Vintage Area， which is a must-go， as it enriches Milano Unica with an incredible cultural legacy focused on retro trends.

The Aree Sintesi， visual catalogues of exhibitors signature products， are located close to the entrances and， starting with this edition， will be equipped with touch screens showing the entire virtual catalogue of all the products presented in the trade show.

Milano Unica specifically thanks the Italian Ministry for the Economic Development， ICE Agency and Sistema Moda Italia and is grateful to Banca Sella， a sponsor that has supported the exhibition for years.

China becomes the leading purchaser of made in Italy textiles

According to SMI projections Made in Italy textiles （including wool， cotton， linen and silk fabrics and knits） are expected to close 2016 with a slight decrease compared to the levels recorded in 2015. To date， projections estimate a -0.6% reduction with total sales amounting to euro 7.86 billion.

The result reflects the slack performance of the international markets（-2%）， while the Italian market， mainly focused on exports， devoted attention to Made-in-Italy products， to the detriment of overseas supplies （-2.5%）.

Given the aforementioned trade performance， the trade balance for the industry results in euro 2，262 million. The surplus in textiles makes for 24.8% of the total sales generated in the Textiles-Fashion segment， making for 15% of total sales.

In the same January-October 2016 span， exports of worsted wool fabrics grew by +6.6%， while combed wool fabrics recorded +0.3%. Exports of linen fabrics posted an increase equal to +6.3%. After the significant losses recorded in the past 4 years， cotton fabrics decreased by -1.6%. Similarly to 2015， knits were down -4.8%， while silk fabrics fell by -6.9%.

Imports showed increases only for worsted and combed wool fabrics， up+4.5% and +9.0% respectively. Cotton and linen fabrics， though at distinctly different levels， both showed a negative sign at -3.9%. Imports of knitwear were down -5.1%， while pure silk dropped by -10%.

In the first ten months of 2016， the China （+2.8%） and Hong Kong region became the top market for Made-in-Italy textiles， while the German market， though still ranking first for Italian textile exports and after showing a rather heavy reduction last year （-8.9%）， dropped again， by -3.7%. France， the third largest market， limited the downtrend to -1.2%. Conversely， other leading destinations show a positive trend， like Romania， up +2.1% and Tunisia +2.0%. Scrolling the list of the top markets， another group of countries were characterized by a negative performance： the US market， after the double-digit growth posted in 2015， dropped by-14.6%； Turkey by -4.0% and Spain by -1.3%. Though at a slower pace， exports to the following countries rose： Portugal （+1.0%）， Japan （+0.9%）， United Kingdom （+1.5%） and South Korea（+19.5%）.

Considering the analysis of the markets of origin of textiles imported to Italy， characterized by a high concentration from a geographic perspective in the extra-EU area （66.9%）， it becomes evident that China and Turkey are drawing closer and closer， and are now at 24.9% and 21.1%， respectively. It should be noted that in January-October 2010 China represented 39.9% of the semi-finished products included in the analysis， while Turkey was at 12.4%. In the period analyzed， however， both countries posted a downtrend： China was down by -8.7% and Turkey by -1.7%.

Last but not least， based on a sample survey carried out by SMI， in the last year， reductions in employment and in the number of businesses in operation have almost come to a halt， while in the 2010/2014 period there were more than 5，700 redundancies （-16.7%） and 320 businesses shut down （-14.2%）.

The results obtained in terms of steady sales and positive performance of the trade balance in the 2010/2016 period are attributable to the increased internationalization of Italian businesses. Certainly， there is still much to be done， also in relation to raising the positioning towards the upper end of the market， and the compensatory effect deriving from the compound textiles mix that Made in Italy production offers to meet the needs of the fashion industry.

The performance of imports and exports in the first ten months of 2016

The analysis of international trade with specific regard to knits and woven fabrics mainly in natural fibers （see Figure 1 Note 1） reveals that in the January - October 2016 span international sales continued to drop， falling by -1.1%， though showing a deceleration in the decline compared to the figures for the same period in 2015 （-2.4%）. Similarly， imports also performed negatively （-4.0%）， but unlike exports， the reduction is larger than the drop recorded in 2015 （-2.6%）. Milano Unica– February 2017 ISTAT data on manufacturing regarding woven fabrics in the January - September 2016 span show a -2.2% reduction In the first ten months of 2016， exports of fabrics dropped by-1.1% and imports by -4.0%.

The negative sign is common to both EU countries and extra-EU countries. As for exports， as indicated in Figure 1， the EU and extra-EU countries showed a similar performance： the first， with an incidence equal to 51.9%， dropped by-1.3%， while the second were down by -1.0%. At the same time， extra-EU supplies – making for 66.9% of total imports to Italy – were down -4.1%， while imports from within the EU dropped by-3.7%. Apart from the average figures by macroarea， it is very interesting to analyze trends in the various countries that represent the main commercial partners of our textile producers， showing– as matter of fact – peculiar and often diverging trends. In the first ten months of 2016， the German market， though still ranking first for Italian textiles exports and after showing a rather heavy reduction last year （-8.9%）， dropped by -3.7%. The German slowdown was opposed by the rise of China， up+2.8%. If we sum up Chinas euro 165 million in exports and Hong Kongs euro 129 million （despite a -8.7% reduction）， the China-Hong Kong region becomes the top market for Made-in-Italy textiles， topping Germany （euro 294 million against euro 292 million）. More specifically， the jump was first recorded in December 2015 （euro 378 million against euro 364 million）， given that for the first eleven months of 2015 Germany was still leading the ranking of Italian export customers. Other leading destinations show a positive trend， like Romania， up +2.1% and Tunisia +2.0%. France limited the downtrend to -1.2%.

As better detailed here below， the reductions posted in the industry as a whole do not take into account the highly different performances posted by the various types of textiles included in the analysis （Figure 2）. In the same January – October 2016 span， exports of worsted wool fabrics grew by +6.6%， while combed wool fabrics recorded+0.3%. Exports of linen fabrics posted a significant increase equal to +6.3%.

Cotton， silk and knits recorded a negative trend. After the large losses of the previous four years， cotton fabrics decreased less， but were still negative at -1.6% starting from October， while for the first nine months of 2016 they had remained essentially stable， showing levels in line with 2015.

Pure silk posted a rather noticeable reduction in exports， equal to -6.9%； silk fabrics composed of chemical fibers （though included only in the data reported in Table 1） show a +1.6% positive performance. Lastly， similarly to 2015， in the January – October 2016 period knits were down -4.8%.

Imports showed increases only for worsted and combed wool fabrics， up +4.5% and +9.0% respectively. Cotton and linen fabrics， though at distinctly different levels， both showed a negative sign at -3.9%. Imports of knitwear were down-5.1%， while pure silk dropped by -10%.

As to short term projections developed by SMI in the Sample Survey of last November， the large majority of the sample of wool fabrics producers （81.8%） confirmed that they believe that the business scenario of 2016 will continue in 2017. The remaining 18.2% is divided equally between“optimistic” and “pessimistic”.

Orders for SS 2017， though still provisional and partial when the analysis was carried out， are positive. In particular， combed fabrics show a +1.7% increase， while worsted fabrics are expected to grow above +10%.

Despite the above， the general climate， given the numerous economic and political uncertainties that will characterize 2017， makes it difficult to give clear scenario projections as they are influenced by the feared introduction of protectionist policies. According to the WTO， in 2017 international trade is expected to fluctuate between 1.8% and +3.%； CSC foresees +2.4%. Italian businesses could show a less penalizing performance compared to their foreign competitors， if the export trend were confirmed， better supporting the slowdown in global demand and， in parallel， also show more difficulties in hooking up to the acceleration phases， as Prometeia effectively explained.

As a result， the Milano Unica appointment will give operators a possibility to better understand the current market situation and the short-medium term projections. By intercepting the orientation of the major players / buyers， Italian businesses will have a chance to fine tune expectations on the evolution of Italian textiles in the upcoming future.