Milan Fashion Affected by the Economy
Is it true that fashion trends are affected by economics. Well it does seem that the fashion houses of Milan (usually known for their expensive clothing lines) are doing something to try and make their fashions more affordable. Why shouldn’t the top designers in Milan revise their sales strategies the way any other business might have to cope with the current global financial crisis.
It seems that if you do now happen to be wandering the chic district of Milan’s Montenapoleone Street you will find big sales. In fact, Prada had been offering big sales at its flagship store in Milan and was discounting the brand’s famously hip and fashion fierce clothes at over 40%.
Some companies, like Furla, which makes fine leather goods have also been dealing with the economic downturn in their own ways – by launching more affordable lines. Furla is one of those luxury leather good stores that has over 300 stores worldwide . The company usually makes around 200 million dollars a year. However in June 2007 it devised a plan of how it will deal with the upcoming economic crisis.
Like many other stores, Furla plans to deal with it by being very selective about opening new stores. Their spokesman Paola Fontanelli, in a Google news story, said that Furla would be opening stores in less expensive locations like malls and would reschedule about when they would be exploiting their investments.
So why are these Italian companies having sales and freezing new development? This was a reaction to an announcement last year when it seems Italy’s fashion and textile federation noted that sales of luxury goods marked “Made in Italy” were down by three percent over the first nine months of the year. This was a big enough downturn for the fashion industry in Milan to ask for the Italian governments support.
Another thing that triggered alarm in the Milan fashion industry was that the Russian buyers seem to abruptly cut off all orders from Milanese designers. The reason it is so disastrous is that the Russian fashion industry used to pay Milan fashion designers upfront. This would allow the designers to put forth their clothes with confidence. Without the funds from Russia some Milan designers are actually paralyzed and not creating their designs at all.
One of the main victims of the Russian cut off of upfront money is the Leading knitwear manufacture Lineapiu. It and other companies have actually had to seek bankruptcy protection.
Savvy companies that have been in the fashion fierce biz for a very long time are angling more to form partnerships with Chinese companies. This along with offering cheaper goods and also goods that are more green because of their materials or they are made are also part of the industry’s tact to make things better.