Milano Unica: a new look to spruce up the sector

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Sep 8, 2015

"It seems like the crisis is the new normal. So we have to be even more flexible, all while maintaining the quality of the product and the service," concluded the president of Milano Unica, Silvio Albini, at the end of his opening speech at the opening of the trade show in Milan this September 8. The XXIst edition of the landmark Italian textile show dedicated to fabrics and accessories for the AW16/17 season.
 

On this first day of the show, visitors discovered its new layout, with a more contemporary touch thanks to its more subdued shades (grey and black). They were notably attracted to the new "Trend Area", located in the middle of the first level, with a lot more space. The new presentation allows for easier circulation and makes it easier to see and touch the hundreds of indexed tissue samples, which visitors can then go look into further at the stands.

Silvio Albini is delighted with the solid presence of exhibitors online, emphasising the ever significant portion of foreign exhibitors, with 128 this time around compared to 103 in September 2014 (if the respective 47 and 10 participants from the Japan and Korea Observatories are included).

Positive numbers of course, but they don't hide "a situation that is more complex than expected with a period of major majors stemming from uncertainty," according to Silvio Albini.

After 7 consecutive quarters of growth, Italian textiles are indeed faced with a reversal of trends. The production of Italian fabrics declined 4.1% in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period a year prior, according to the estimates prepared by the SMI research centre.