Milan, 7 February 2012 Silvio Albini, Chairman of Milano Unica, and Michele Tronconi, Chairman of Sistema Moda Italia, have inaugurated the 14th edition of the Italian Textiles Trade Show, which will run from today until next Thursday, 9 February at Fieramilanocity, featuring high-end fabrics of Italian and European make for SS 2013.

On the occasion, Santo Versace, Chairman, and Armando Branchini, Secretary General of Altagamma Foundation, then presented and commented the “2012 Market Outlook”, providing a general overview on the “Made in Italy” trend all over the world.

At the meeting, which was attended by Authorities and Institutional representatives, numerous exhibitors and members of Milano Unica Presidential Committee, Gian Giacomo Ferraris, Managing Director of Gianni Versace, and Marco Vitale provided their contributions, illustrating “The entrepreneurial and strategic implications of 2012 for businesses operating in the textile-fashion supply chain”.

Despite the industry-wide slowdown in the second half of 2011 and the worrying uncertainties about the 2012 trend, the 14th edition of Milano Unica has essentially confirmed the same number of exhibitors – 440 – 76 of which are from other European countries, in line with the number registered in the 2011 February edition.

“This is a clear sign of confidence - commented Silvio Albini, Chairman of Milano Unica - and it is also evidence that Milano Unica has consolidated its role as a surefire commercial and marketing venue in the industry-specific international trade show panorama. We are confident that an increasing number of entrepreneurs, particularly Italian, are becoming aware of the value and significance of this high quality event, organised in Milan, the undisputed capital of fashion. We are fully convinced that the potential and the intrinsic qualities of the industry in which we operate can be better expressed by exploiting the strengths of the system through team work, as the businesses of the Prato district have very well understood, having decided to collaborate again with us, following the example of numerous enterprises operating in that same important district that have believed in Milano Unica since the very beginning.”

According to the data processed by the Research Centre at Sistema Moda Italia, 2011 posted positive results overall, despite the slowdown in the second half of the year. According to preliminary estimates, the overall textiles sales volume is expected to register an annual average growth equal to +10.2%, corresponding to euro 8.4 billion, with exports at +7.3%, equal to euro 4.5 billion in value, while imports rose +12.8%, with a positive balance of trade amounting to approximately euro 2.4 billion.

“I would like to focus on two sets of data specifically, which confirm the relevance of this industry, the so-called “upstream” of the textile-clothing-fashion supply chain. The first set of data is represented by the fact that textiles, though weighing only 16% on the overall sales volume of the supply chain, account for 40% of the industry’s positive balance of trade. The second set of data is represented by the fact that towards the first-wave emerging countries, - that is China, Turkey and Brazil –- exports of textiles, which are key for the future of our enterprises, in addition to being on the increase, outperformed exports of apparel. This has happened while in the more traditional markets (i.e. Germany, France and the US) the general trend for the period showed a decline. I believe it is worth underscoring this data, not to trigger additional competition, but mainly in order to underscore the importance of the supply chain and the need to safeguard its integrity with actions aimed at enhancing and strengthening first and foremost the competitiveness of Italian SMEs in extra-European markets”, the Chairman of Milano Unica added.

Among the most dynamic destinations are the extra-EU areas (+12.3%), which absorbed up to 48.5% of the industry’s total export volume (up 1.2 percentage points against the first ten months of 2010). Intra-EU export rose by +7.2%. With reference to the extra-European destinations, China’s performance is worthy of note. In the first ten months of 2011, China continued its expansion policy, gaining shares at a rate of +27.2% in terms of value (for a total of approximately euro 158 million) and +21.8% in terms of volume. While we mostly import cotton fabrics from China, Italy mainly exports wool fabrics, with combed wool fabrics at 47.4% and carded wool fabrics at 16.6%. China, together with Hong Kong, is one of Italy’s most important markets for textiles, second only to Germany.

Silvio Albini explained further “Hence our decision to organise two editions of Milano Unica in China, one in Beijing and one in Shanghai. We will debut in Beijing at the end of March, from 28 to 30 March 2012, to be precise, in partnership with Messe Frankfurt, with the Milano Unica China pavilion dedicated to Italian textiles, within the context of the Beijing Intertextile trade show, the world’s most comprehensive industry trade fair. Almost 100 Italian businesses – 95 to be exact – will participate. They not only represent the top of the Made in Italy textiles production, but they also represent the most important Italian textile districts of excellence, which have agreed to exploit the strengths of the system and develop team work to tackle this new challenge that we intend to face together, being fully convinced and confident that we have what it takes.”

The most important event in this edition, dedicated to exhibitors and their clients, will once again be held in the prestigious setting of the La Scala Theatre, featuring the extraordinary EXCELSIOR ballet. On 8 February the performance will be entirely dedicated to Milano Unica.

Now a tradition, the Milano Unica has become a prominent event and is linked, in addition to the arts and the city of Milan, also to a charity initiative. In the past editions, Milano Unica supported the “Lega del Filo d’Oro”, the reconstruction of a school at L’Aquila after the earthquake, and Haitian children, through the Francesca Rava Foundation. This year, the entire amount collected from the exhibitors will be donated to needy children and families in Somalia, a region which has been recently suffering a severe famine, through UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

In the afternoon, at the fair, Li Edelkoort, a highly renowned and authoritative independent trend consultant, a charismatic figure in the fashion and design industries, will contribute with an analysis of consumption and trends for the upcoming future.

Last but not least, at Fieramilanocity trend area, several monitors will allow visitors to see a preview of the On STAGE 2.0 digital platform, that can be accessed by clicking on the Milano Unica website - www.milanounica.it. Visitors may see the videos of the three event-shows of the preceding editions and also collect more information on the 30 emerging international designer talents who animated them. A special section will be entirely dedicated to designers, including biographies, portraits, links to their official websites and a gallery with the best looks.