ROME, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Bracing for an uncertain future, most companies in the Italian fashion industry have restarted their activities this week, after almost two months of nationwide lockdown imposed for the coronavirus emergency.
Seen as one of the "jewels" of the country's manufacture -- both in economic and in symbolic terms -- the sector has been hardly hit by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic which has so far claimed over 30,395 lives in Italy.
Yet, after restrictions on some productive sectors (including manufacturing) were lifted on May 4, the mood among fashion entrepreneurs seemed quite upbeat, according to sector operators.
"We are approaching this phase with enthusiasm and worry at the same time," Claudio Marenzi, president of Italy's Confindustria Moda, told Xinhua in an interview.
Confindustria Moda represents around 66,000 firms in the textile, fashion, and accessories sectors (out of some 80,000 overall), many of which small and medium-sized. Most are strongly export-oriented: sales abroad made 66.3 percent of their turnover in 2018, according to the association.
EAGER TO REOPEN
"We are all eager to reopen, and we feel confident we will make our best...this is our main source of optimism," Marenzi said.
"At the same time, we are aware of the difficulties: some firms will make good choices and others will make wrong choices, as it happens in every restart and even more now in this unprecedented situation," he explained.
Overall, Italy's fashion and textile industry generates revenues for at least 95.5 billion euros (103.3 billion U.S. dollars), and employs over 580,000 workers, considering satellite activities.
According to a survey by the Confindustria Moda research center, the turnover loss suffered by fashion firms exceeded 35 percent on average in the first quarter of 2020 against the same quarter of last year.
The survey was carried out on April 7-17 (during full lockdown) on a sample of 320 companies. Companies involved also saw their orders fall by 40.5 percent on average in the first quarter, and at least 80 percent of them said they will make use of the unemployment benefit scheme for their employees along 2020 to try to reduce the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.
"Considering the entire 2020, the Italian fashion's turnover might drop even more than 35 percent, because we will likely pay also for a decrease in terms of international tourism," Marenzi said.
"We expect tourism inflows from Asia -- especially from the three most important countries for us, China, South Korea, and Japan -- to drop, as well as those from the United States and Russia...and the absence of these foreign tourists will add to an expected drop in domestic consumption."
Meanwhile, the Milan-based National Chamber of Italian Fashion announced the next Fashion Weeks (Men and Women) will be postponed from June to July, and take place in digital format only to allow designers to feature their creations and, at the same time, avoid the risk of contagion.
The Digital Fashion Week will be held on July 14-17 and include both men's and women's spring/summer 2021 collections.
"It is a concrete response to this specific phase...Our double goal is to support the restart of our system and to reach media, buyers, and the global fashion community through a multitude of contents," Fashion Chamber President Carlo Capasa said in a statement.
HARDSHIP FOR RETAIL
One section of the fashion industry -- the clothing retail -- currently appeared to be the hardest hit of all.
Restrictions have not been lifted yet for shops, which were due to reopen on May 18. The government has so far declined calls for an earlier reopening on May 11.
"Sales in Italy's fashion stores are worth about 60 billion euros per year, and we estimate at least 15 billion have gone lost due to this emergency," Renato Borghi, president of CNA Federmoda Association, told Xinhua. The association represents some 25,000 small textile, clothing, and fashion manufacturers, and associated businesses.
A "prudent forecast" by Federmoda suggested about 15,000 stores (out of some 115,000) might shut down because of the crisis.
The group submitted specific requests to the government, the most crucial ones being block grants, an extension of the current moratorium on taxes and social security payments to September, and a tax credit scheme on 60 percent on unsold inventories. (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollars) Enditem
