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Italy loses 20,000 jobs a year to
counterfeiting, says
Assocalzaturifici
T
he vice-president of Italian footwear
manufacturers association Assocalzaturifici
has called on the European Commission to
extend its proposed ‘country of origin’
guidelines to cover online sales to help the
industry in the battle against counterfeiting.
Arturo Venanzi said: “Ours is a dynamic
industry that operates in all markets and
exports 84% of its production value. All Italian
footwear brands are fighting an unequal
battle against forgery, both in the domestic
market and in emerging countries.
Counterfeiting results in a loss of 20,000 jobs
a year in Italy, and when we consider the
global market and the internet, the situation
gets even more complicated.
"Forgers seek to induce consumers into
believing that the product of a brand is
authentic by using the term 'Made in Italy'
and other Italian-sounding expressions. For
this reason, it is extremely important for the
European authorities to adopt effective
market surveillance tools, and have a
profound influence on bilateral negotiations.”
Italy’s fashion footwear industry generated
a turnover of over ¤7bn in 2012, employs
78,000 and contributes more than ¤3.8 billion
to Italy's trade figures.
“It is essential to introduce valid tracking
tools for the European internal market,”
added Mr Venanzi. “The EC’s legislative
package on product safety and market
surveillance is an important step to
standardise rules across Europe. Article 7 on
the compulsory indication of the country of
origin, therefore, is doubly important. It is
important for consumers, because it provides
information that can guide them in their
purchasing decisions, along with other
elements provided for by the law. And it is
important for the authorities, as it enables
them to put in place all the necessary checks.
It would be highly advisable to extend the
standard to online sales."
Assocalzaturifici took part in a seminar
organised by think tank Raggruppamento
Europa Sociale in Milan to discuss solutions
for the wider luxury and fashion industry.
Singapore Airlines promotes
leather heritage
S
ingapore Airlines has chosen leather from
Muirhead for its new business class cabin,
and features the group’s Glasgow factory -
where the leather is custom dyed to match
the carrier’s new corporate identity - in a
video to promote the quality and heritage of
the material.
An initial eight B777-300ERs will feature
the new cabin products, which will also be
fitted on Airbus A350-900s in the years ahead,
with Muirhead leather in business class. The
specialist low-carbon aviation leather product
from Muirhead is fitted to 40 business class
seats per aircraft, covering the seat-front and
ottoman throughout the cabin.
Muirhead sales director Archie Browning
said: “We are very proud to continue our
long-standing relationship with Singapore
Airlines with this new supply agreement for
its new business class product. The new
cabins are designed and constructed with a
very exacting attention to detail, and the
finished product will delight the most
discerning of passengers.”
Muirhead sources hides within a 300-
kilometre radius of its Glasgow headquarters,
each with a carbon footprint of 6kg CO
2
representing a reduction of 46% since 2004.
Mipel cheered by rising visitor
numbers
O
rganisers of Mipel, a Milan-based trade
fair for handbags and leathergoods that
took place in mid-September, said 5.3% more
visitors than last season is “reason to believe
that the domestic market is reviving after a
hard struggle”.
Visitors from Italy increased 10% while
overseas attendees rose 1%.
“The results we achieved came as no
surprise; the journey we set out on with our
103rd show still has many great innovations
in store, all designed to improve service to
exhibitors and the experience of the buyers,
not least the launch of the show’s
ecommerce platform @Mipel, designed to
bring Mipel to a wider audience,” said Giorgio
Cannara, president of Mipel and Aimpes,
Italy’s leathergoods association.
Next season’s show will be from March 2
to 5, 2014.
UK-based men’s footwear brands
on upward trajectory
N
orthampton-based men’s footwear
brands were targeting increased sales at
the recent Micam footwear fair after
achieving a record £2 million in orders there
last year and seeing year-on-year growth.
4 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8 2013
World Leather BusinessWeek