The brand name doesn’t quite fit. Micam (and the craft sector) needs legislation to protect ‘entirely handmade’ products

When one considers that even the young Chinese designers sponsored by the colossal KeQiao textile district are due to arrive next week to showcase their collections in Milan, with the aim of finding common ground between industry and traditional craftsmanship – “which must be protected” – it is clear that the issue is becoming increasingly pressing everywhere. And that the battle over the new law to protect ‘entirely handmade’ products (there appear to be a great many fraudulent claims: according to Confartigianato, the ratio is almost equal) will be the major issue in the coming months.

The fashion industry has so far skilfully managed to distance itself from this issue, supported by the major brands which have every interest in continuing to portray their companies as priceless champions of handmade craftsmanship, even when they can boast only one such example of excellence within their supply chain. However, it seems that the supply chain itself has grown weary of providing high-end fashion with a convenient crutch and that, as Giovanna Ceolini, president of Assocalzaturifici and the Micam trade fair, which opens in a few days’ time at Rho Fiera with a number of exhibitors virtually unchanged from last year (378 Italian companies, 380 foreign ones), “the time has come to set the record straight and safeguard the interests of manufacturers”.

It will not be easy, because over the last three decades, the footwear supply chain has bowed to the demands of the brands, often covering for them even on sustainability issues, and is often entirely dependent on orders from those very same brands; consequently, in this mutual dependency, it inevitably ends up getting the short end of the stick. Chairwoman Ceolini, rightly convinced that “craftsmanship today is not only a business, but also the most powerful communication tool at our disposal”, therefore has no intention of leaving its management to the brands, especially at a time when they are showing signs of yielding ground to former fast-fashion brands such as Zara (Inditex’s first half-year results stood at nearly 20 billion, with growth of over 7 per cent), which continue to reposition themselves towards the high-end market thanks to new labels and creative initiatives (the launch of the homeware and clothing line designed by Luca Guadagnino is expected in the coming days).

Against this charged backdrop, just a few days before the start of Milan Fashion Week – presented by the mayor, Giuseppe Sala, who was moved by the work he himself has carried out over the past ten years – the economic situation remains fragile. According to figures released by the National Chamber of Fashion, the global trade in textiles and clothing remained unstable right up until June. Despite a 3.8 per cent upturn in recent months – which it would, however, be premature to regard as the start of a positive trend – the year is expected to close with a slight decline of 2 per cent, according to the latest estimates. Purchasing behaviour is changing; no one aspires to the handbag as a status symbol any more and, finally – as has emerged from the presentations over the last few days – it has become clear that shopping is still driven by the good old Generation X, those in their forties and fifties, and that their tastes influence those of their children, the famous Generation Z, in whom everyone seems to have placed vain hopes so far, because they are proving indecisive in their choices and, in any case, lack the means to make them.