Italy today - industry icons, Milan fashion week & an election

Photo: N21 by Alessandro Dell'Acqua A/W 2013 | Photo: Sonny Vandeveld | BOF

inuing until Monday, the week has been a celebration of all things Italian.  Milan Fashion Week has been showcasing the best of the industry's luxury design talent, and it will end Monday with an election today for the country which has had an economically difficult 3 years.  

Today, the Italian industry is optimistic.  Sales of Italian goods are forecast to drop 3.5 percent to 58 billion euros in 2013, after a 5.4 percent drop the previous year, however, the additional strength of exports in emerging markets will deliver the biggest year to-date for Italian companies outside of the country.   WWD had a beautiful article on the tradition and significance to design, heritage, creativity and culture of Made in Italy to luxury brands, with contributions from Cucinelli, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Ferragamo, and Prada. 

Other significant news from this week:  

BOTTEGA VENETA reaches $1 Billion in sales, which is common among the mass market (and even with mass luxury such as Coach and Michael Kors).  The $1Billion + club is much smaller in the high-luxury brand sphere, and is more remarkable as Tomas Meier began the strategic re-branding only a decade ago.  BOF's article here. 

PRADA's 2012 sales see a 29 percent increase to 3.3 billion euros.  "The strength of our brands, our ability to interpret and anticipate market rends and our global retail network continue to form the basis for our long-term growth strategy, " Prada's Bertelli said in a statement.  Same-store sales were up 14 percent, and Asia Pacific was up 23 percent overall.  Read the Wall Street Journal's article here.