Milan Fashion Week Fall 2010 / Winter 2011
Dates: Feb 24 – Mar 3, 2010

New Challenges Ahead

San FedeleDALLAS, Dec 17, 2009 / FW/ — Last October in New York, the Italian Trade Commission and its long time partner Hearst Magazines launched a multi-media platform 2010 Made in Italy campaign with Cathie Black, President of Hearst Magazines and Dr. Aniello Musella, The Italian Trade Commission as hosts of the event.

With New York’s prime movers and fashion insiders present, Dr. Aniello Musella underlined the importance of the campaign for Italy’s trade.

“We put public money in this promotion, and it should help the Italian manufacturers in this difficult time,” said Aniello Musella. “The American market is a first exporting market for Italian fashion as a whole for a long time, so we need them.”

A similar event was held in Tokyo this December with the same goal, promote Italian products in Japan.

Hurt by the global credit crunch and a very strong euro, making Made in Italy goods very expensive simply because of a high exchange rate, the Spring 2010 season held last September began with Italian exports in the red, with the fashion industry being on high on the list.

And though the U.S. economy is already showing signs of recovery, Dubai hit a financial crisis which though contained in one area, it has shaken the confidence of the whole Middle East region which had been insulated from the global recession due to oil.

Then, coming from left field, luxury retailer Neiman Marcus, a haven for Italian fashion and Italian-made goods announced that it is pressing suppliers to produce lower-priced versions of designer styles as it quietly refashions itself for an age of belt-tightening and less conspicuous consumption.

To use a cliché, it seems that luxury purveyors just seem not to get any break at all. But, all is not lost. Economists are cautiously optimistic for 2010 and quite frankly, we should all be.

[MARI DAVIS]

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