Made in Italy: luxury shoes are stepping up the pace

Tomatoes that seem to be identical to one another have lost their eternal appeal to the public, who now search for tasty tomatoes grown closer to home, even if they are more expensive. Children need to learn once more that milk comes from cows and not from supermarkets.

The veggie and health food trend has become tantamount to local production. Now it's high time that the fashion sector follows in suit. But do we still have the knowledge and technological possibilities for local production? Can we make jeans in Europe, produce bags and purses and knit sweaters? And where? In this series FashionUnited investigates garment production in six European countries: Spain, the UK, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and France - to shed light on the production possibilities that lie within our backyard.

Italy

is shaped like a boot and perhaps its vocation also derives from this form. The fact is that the best-known Italian and foreign brands have always been producing in this country. Fratelli Rossetti, Santoni, Ballin, Tod's, Roger Vivier, Church's, Fabi, to name a few.

The Italian regions with the highest concentration of small and medium-sized companies [SMEs] in the footwear industry are The Marches, Tuscany, Lombardy, and Veneto. On average we are talking about companies with about forty employees. "In Montegranaro (in the Province of Fermo, in The Marches, ed) there are 13 thousand inhabitants and today there are 300 SMEs producing shoes, not to mention the entire supply chain surrounding it," said Arturo Venanzi, Commercial Director of Franceschetti, a footwear company now in its fourth generation to FashionUnited. Among the brands which produce locally are, Franceschetti, Lendvay & Schwarcz and W.Gibbs, the first is related to classic men's footwear. "But we're starting with the women's line, with men's style hand-made footwear," added Venanzi. In short, their strategy is a bit like the one launched by Fratelli Rossetti which, just a few weeks ago during Milan Fashion Week, where they presented bicolour models sprinkled with glitter for the men's cut "Magenta" boots and shoes for the women's winter 2015 collection.

But what makes Italy the shoe country par excellence? The artisan workmanship and assembly, i.e. the stitching of the individual pieces that make up the shoe. "Let's look at the Blake Rapid craftsmanship, for example", explained Venanzi. "In this type of work when preparing the bottom of the shoe, the insoles and soles are first cut from the leather. Then a suitable leather or rubber heel is designed for each shape. The components are joined and sewn together to form the bottom. Then the brand is embossed onto it. The application of the sole determines the assembly of upper and bottom."

But what's the difference between this type of work and industrial production?

A shoe like this doesn't fall apart. "Only when you wear it can you understand its added value", say the manufacturers. The price of a shoe of this kind ranges from 350 to 390 euros for the end consumer and production can take as long as a week from start of assembly to boxing up. It is a process that requires a specialised workforce, with specific training. "That's why you cannot outsource the production of our footwear", says Siro Badon of De Robert Calzature, a company in Saonara, in the Province of Padua. Institutes have sprung up in recent years, such as the Politecnico Calzaturiero [footwear polytechnic], based in the Veneto Region, where young people come from all over the world just to learn this craft.

Gabriele

Giordano, general manager of Gusella, the historic Milan-based brand specialising in children's footwear, which was recently acquired by the Hong Kong company, Dragon Crowd Enterprise, is also unable to relocate production. "Right from the acquisition the East Asian group decided to maintain production in Italy, staking on the value of the Made in Italy concept in order to sell to China".

The shoe assembly process counts for a lot

"The shoe assembly process counts for a lot. In Italy we have the right skilled hands for producing a quality shoe", explains the general manager, adding that in Italy the average price of shoes sold is 90 euros, whilst the Chinese consumer can shell out as much as 150 euros. "The Chinese customer dislikes paying import duties, but is willing to spend those kinds of sums for an Italian made shoe".

Another brand that has also decided to produce in Italy is Patrizia Pepe, well-known in Europe, which in the last few days has been presenting its new footwear collection in TheMicam, a festival staged in Milan between 2 and 5 March.

And discussing at length relocation and the risk felt throughout the industry following the behaviour of some brands that are producing uppers abroad, in countries such as Romania, for example, and then assembling the shoes in Italy, selling them as Italian made, is Cleto Sagripanti, Chair of Assocalzaturifici which represents about 700 footwear companies.

"If after all these years we are still unable to approve EU regulations on "made in" labelling, it means that the European market lacks strategic vision. Today even in EU countries that are seeing consumption grow, demand is in the hands of importers capitalising on low-priced, low-quality products with huge margins, without the consumer being informed. We are not against relocation, we are against those who relocate whilst hiding behind the absence of regulation and therefore without the need to declare where production actually takes place," says Sagripanti.

In 2013, Italian footwear exports were still growing, whilst consumption in Italy is in sharp decline

A few figures: In 2013, Italian footwear exports were still growing, whilst consumption in Italy is in sharp decline. Household purchasing in Italy dropped by 4.1 percent in volume and 6.1 percent in value compared to the previous year.

As regards exports, preliminary estimates an increase in value of 5.6 percent compared to 2012, whilst the increase in volume is expected to remain at 2.6 percent. The European Union has been characterised by sales increases in terms of value (+2.6 percent). Among the major EU countries, France (+9.5 percent in value) and Germany (+1.8 percent) have grown. The UK only grew in value (+5.4 percent).