Italy recorded 22.6 per cent growth in fashion sales in 2021 compared to 2020. However, pressure on bottom line increased due to a surge in raw material and energy costs, The Russia-Ukraine war also dampened consumer confidence and stability, as per an outlook by Cirillo Marcolin, President, Confindustria Moda. Their figures show, the sector’s sales grew by €16.7 billion to €91.7 billion last year.
A similar trend was highlighted by Sistema Moda Italia, the consortium of Italian fashion and textile companies, which posted a sales rise of 18.4 per cent to €52.9 billion in 2021.
According to Confindustria Moda, exports of Italian fashion goods grew 23.5 per cent last year to €67.5 billion with France, Germany, China and the US, among the best-performing importers. Gianfranco Di Natale, General Manager emphasizes, the US showed impressive growth compared to mostly flat growth over the past two decades. At the same time, exports to the UK decreased 10.2 per cent last year, signaling the impact of inflation on consumer consumption there.
A survey among its associated companies allowed the group to forecast like-for-like sales will improve 19.3 per cent in the quarter. The same survey highlighted an expected slowdown in revenue growth for the second quarter, when the impact of the Ukrainian conflict is being felt more broadly and sales should increase 12.9 percent on a comparable basis.v According to Confindustria Moda, exports to Russia and Ukraine declined by 3.1 per cent from 2019 to € 1.72 billion in 2021. They represented 2.5 percent of total exports in 2021. The analyst estimates, 3 per cent of Italian fashion companies generate more than 50 per cent of revenues in Russia and 11 per cent between 10 and 50 percent.
The survey revealed, 49 per cent fashion enterprises expect second-quarter sales to remain flat versus the previous quarter, while 43 per cent forecast deterioration in their performance. Marcolin says, it is important to build supportive culture among the country’s entrepreneurs to power through the geopolitical instability and pilot the digitization, internationalization and sustainability of the sector.
