MILAN — Euphoria’s over.
The stellar post-pandemic performance of the luxury and fashion sectors has weakened significantly since the last quarter of 2023 and spinners are feeling the pressure as they cope with slower demand.
This is the consensus among 142 industry operators, 16 of which hail from abroad, that will gather at the three-day textile trade fair Pitti Filati starting Tuesday to unveil their fall 2025 collections, hinged on cocooning and enveloping yarns with a reassuring textural appearance.
According to data provided by Sistema Moda Italia, revenues of the Italian spinning industry decreased 11 percent in 2023 to 2.88 billion euros, although they were still up 4 percent compared to 2019 levels.
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“We’re seeing signs of difficulty for the market to deplenish its stock, as the ravaging inflation is hitting consumer demand for the low-end and luxury fashion sectors alike,” said Alberto Enoch, chief executive officer of silk specialist Servizi e Seta.
After fashion brands overstocked throughout the post-pandemic years in response to revenge spending and to offset the impact of increasing costs for raw materials and energy, as well as inflation, the current weakened consumer demand for fashion products has fed through the supply chain, resulting in lower demand from brands for textiles.
The trend, which emerged late last year, has continued throughout the first half of 2024, observed Silvio Botto Poala, CEO of Botto Giuseppe, which in 2023 managed to increase its revenues by 7 percent. “Orders have reduced and are now in line with pre-COVID-19 years,” he said. Given this scenario, he forecast sales for the sector will be similar to 2018 and 2019 levels, in what he billed as a “physiological slowdown.”
The latter is being especially felt in the premium and contemporary segments with target customers being more mindful about their purchases, increasingly driven by sustainability and quality features, said Matteo Seroldi, CEO of Essegomma, a synthetic yarn-maker based in the outskirts of Milan. The company is leveraging its expanded global footprint and penetration in the luxury market to make up for overall reduced volumes, with sales in 2023 standing at 15 million euros and a forecast growth of about 10 percent this year.
Similarly, Filatura di Tollegno 1900’s chairman Lincoln Germanetti underscored how an evenly distributed footprint across the U.S., Europe and Asia helped the company reach its budgets last year and in the first half of 2024.
The Italian textile pipeline has proven resilient in the past but the lack of visibility into the fashion industry’s outlook, even short term, is dampening the ability to channel investments.
“The most concerning aspect is not necessarily the trend per se, but rather the uncertainty over when the market could bounce back, whether in the second half of 2024 or in 2025,” opined Lorenzo Piacentini, CEO of Biella, Italy-based wool mill Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia. The company reported a decrease of 11 percent in 2023 sales to 90 million euros and expects 2024 figures to be in line with the previous year.
“We are facing harder and more complex operations, leaving little bandwidth to current and future developments,” said Monticolor’s owner Alberto Corti. In 2023 the company’s sales stood at 30.5 million euros, down 10 percent compared to the previous year, but Corti said that the first five months of 2024 showed an uptick on a comparable basis.
According to Germanetti, the geopolitical and economic landscape shouldn’t impact companies’ willingness to invest, viewed as game-changing in maintaining their market share.
“It is undeniable that the global socioeconomic situation impacts every sector at all levels, causing concerns. Caution — albeit understandable — should not stop the evolution of our companies. Innovation, sustainability, experimentation, creativity and know-how are the levers to focus on,” he said.
“Not being cautious in such a context would be a blind move…but I believe the market will reward companies that embrace the challenge and stay close to clients’ needs. Investments are vital to any business; if one stops it loses ground,” echoed Enoch. In fact, the company channeled 1.8 million euros in opening a new manufacturing complex. In 2023, the spinner’s sales increased 12 percent versus the year prior.
Cariaggi, backed by its investors Chanel and Brunello Cucinelli, is standing by its plan to invest 40 million euros across R&D, new machinery and production sites until 2030 despite “the results in the first portion of the year weren’t as satisfying in light of market complexity,” said president and CEO Pier Giorgio Cariaggi. The company’s sales in 2023 stood at 140 million euros.
In times of uncertainty, reassuring collections that translate into soft and cocooning yarns are being coupled with a continued emphasis on the sustainability attributes of products as well as enhanced services.
As the name suggests, Monticolor’s Hug Merino speaks to the enveloping and soft trend with its blend of 50 percent extra-fine, RWS-approved merino wool and 50 percent biologic cotton, the latter adding texture and depth to knitwear. A range of new air brushed yarns at Servizi e Seta, including the silk and cashmere blend Royal Wind and the woolly Hobart, boast an enhanced tactile appearance.
The volatility of the market is also pushing spinners to develop collections with trans-seasonal garments in mind, hence the number of lightweight blends seen in the cashmere and linen Haramosh yarn offered by Servizi e Seta or Cariaggi’s Voluta bouclé yarn made of 76 percent cashmere and 24 percent silk, adding color depth while enhancing softness. In the Cortina version, the same blend adds sequins for extra shimmer.
At Lanificio dell’Olivo — still in recovery mode after flooding at its production site outside Prato, Italy, last November — tweed and slub yarns with a crisp effect, such as the Opium Print and Cabaret collections, are intended for four-season knitwear.
Working its offering around the multifaceted needs of its clients, Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia — where about 40 percent of its catalogue now contains traceable wool — unveiled families of products including Aeterna, a seasonless offering hinged on the use of merino wool. The latter is enriched with 10 percent cashmere fibers in the Neo Cashwool, Neo Casquette and Neo Kent yarns, intended to expand the mill’s footprint in the luxury space.
Earthy tones — spanning from all shades of beige and the colors of undyed fibers to rusty orange, burgundy and sage green — are poised to rule the fall 2025 season. Botto Giuseppe worked the palette in the Naturalborn Vicuna yarn, made up of 100 percent vicuna yarn sourced in the Andes which maintains softness and lightness, as well as in the fluffy full cashmere Flair Peluche and Flair Bouclé yarns. Over the past few years, the company has managed to source 68 percent of Cradle-to-Cradle certified raw materials assessed according to Life Cycle Assessment.
A similar warm palette of Havana orange and burgundy dominated the fall 2025 offering of Lanificio dell’Olivo, whose Kris Andean alpaca yarn combines softness and resistance without compromising lightness, mingled with RMS-certified mohair.
Although the easy care feature is often taken for granted, companies are making strides in the field, with Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia debuting Aquae, a range of machine washable yarns including the new Supergeelong MW carded merino wool and Alashan MW cashmere.
Along the same lines, Essegomma’s patented Olyna yarn crafted from polypropylene is easily machine washable, fully recyclable and requires only 0.4 liters of water to be produced.
