Fiamp, the voice of Made in Italy Accessories, Fashion and People
A packed press conference yesterday morning for the presentation of Fiamp - Federazione Italiana dell'Accessorio Moda e Persona, officially established in Milan December 20, 2004 by Aimpes (manufacture of leather and substitutes), Anci (footwear), Anfao (eyewear) and Federorafi (goldsmiths-jewelers).
The four sectors represented (leather goods, footwear, eyewear and goldsmiths-jewelers) group together over 25 thousand Italian companies which employ over 200 thousand people, have yearly billings of 18 thousand million euros and an export share of over 70%.
Important figures, as was pointed out by professor Marco Fortis, vice-chairman of the Edison Foundation and professor of industrial economics at Milan's Università Cattolica: 'The Fiamp sectors are the essential hub of Made in Italy fashion'. The added value expressed by these sectors is in fact in excess of 42 thousand million euros, only slightly lower than the German automobile industry, which is one of the 'pillars' of world industry. Fortis also pointed out that it is not possible to think that these sectors are outmoded or mature, as they are supporting and resisting impressive competitive currency devaluation by their main competitor, China (in three years, -35% against the euro).
The intention of the new Federation is therefore to 'shine the spotlight on Italian companies and Italian products' through initiatives that are not isolated, but agreed and shared. 'There is a desire on the part of the four leading associations in the Accessories, Fashion and People segment to tackle the multifaceted problems of the segment's production cycle in a way that is new and up-to-date', Fiamp chairman Alessandro Biffi stated. 'In these difficult times something concrete must be done to create a team which will give greater momentum to Italian and European requests for measures to protect Italian companies and to develop a common and more effective promotion of Made in Italy throughout the world'.
The initiatives Fiamp intends to promote include urging for the control and monitoring of Italian and European customs, the adoption of suitable surveillance of the domestic market and the main export markets to fight counterfeiting and false Made in Italy indications and company trademarks, the effective application of commercial regulations and mutual principles with regard to customs duties and non-tariff barriers for international exchanges. Lastly, the promotion in Italy and abroad of the value of Made in Italy products.
Activities which Anfao has been carrying out successfully for many years, as Cirillo Marcolin (Fiamp director together with Rossano Soldini of Anci) pointed out with reference to the upcoming initiatives in support of Made in Italy eyewear. 'This year we have again organized Made in Italy eyewear fashion shows, the first of which will take place in Shanghai, February 25. We will then be in Moscow and New York in March. The shows are important to promote Made in Italy eyewear worldwide, especially for the small- and medium-sized enterprises which are struggling more than big companies to cope with competition from Asia'.
The structure of the four Fiamp sectors is in fact made up of small- and medium-sized enterprises and districts and, according to Fortis, they are essential for Italy. However, 'we cannot think that Italian medium and small enterprises will be able to resist the claws of asymmetric competition and currency dumping by Asian countries for much longer, or that, although important, the solutions proposed by some, such as aggregation to achieve adequate three-dimensional cuts, production decentralization and continuous innovation, can be easily attained', Fortis added. 'Only a small number of companies of a significant size can take that road. We must encourage companies to remain in Italy and focus on measures for re-launching Made in Italy, as well as removing the 'system constraints' (bureaucracy, transport, infrastructures, energy) which penalize them'.
Fiamp therefore re-launches a series of mechanism (tax incentives or the elimination of Irap, the regional tax on production) to foster the use of personnel specialized in Italian design, stylistic research, and the renewal of samples and collections.
