After months of meetings, assemblies and discussions, it is official: the “mega” federation that will bring the entire Italian fashion system together under one roof is ready. It will be known as “Confindustria Moda” and it will represent the entire Italian supply chain of the industry, including Smi-Sistema moda Italia, Assocalzaturifici, Aimpes (the Italian Leather Manufacturers’ and Substitutes Association), together with Aip (the Italian Fur Association), Anfao (the Italian Optical Goods Manufacturers’ Association), and Fedeorafi.

The presentation of the fashion-accessory segment into the Italian economy was preceded by a report by economist Marco Fortis. An “ironclad” of Made in Italy that represents more than 67 thousand businesses with 581 thousand employees, and a turnover of more than 88 billion euro of which 54 billion is generated by exports.
A segment that is represented by the Italian fashion accessory, which carries great weight in Europe, accounting for 34% of the added value among Manufacturing countries, thus positioning it in first place.

At the head of the new Association will be Claudio Marenzi, President of Smi since 2013, who adds this new office to his existing roles as President of Emi-ente moda Italia and President of Pitti Immagine. Cirillo Marcolin, President of Fiamp and Anfao, will be the Vice President of the Federation.

The governance of “Confindustria Moda” will be dual. In fact, the two souls of the association that are represented by fashion and accessories will have equal visibility, and in order to maintain this equilibrium, there will be a rotation, starting in the second two-year period, between Smi and Fiamp. In other words, Cirillo Marcolin will be the President, while Marenzi will take on the role of Vice President.

Even the two General Directors will follow a similar trend: they will be Gianfranco Di Natale, the current General Director of Smi, and Astrid Galimberti, who has the same role in Anfao.

The confederated associations will maintain their independence in some areas, such as in the management of events and fairs. The Presidents of each individual Association will also maintain their offices. In this context, in July, there will then be the nomination of Marenzi’s replacement, since he will be at the end of his term.
The new Federation was presented before the President of Confidustria, Vincenzo Boccia, and the Undersecretary of Economic Development, Ivan Scalfarotto, and will be fully operational starting in January 2018, when all the Associations will be transferred into the new and larger headquarters of Corso Sempione. Very soon, also UNIC, the National Union of the Tanning Industry, will officially become part of the Federation.

With this name, Confindustria Moda, – underlined the new President, Marenzi –we wanted to underline our industrial spirit. Every Association took a step backwards to give life to this project, which is important to reinforcing the image of the Italian fashion system. Today is a historic day for Made in Italy. We are the artisanal excellence in imagining, creating, and allowing consumers to dream. We are also one of the driving forces behind the Italian and European GDP, continuing with greater efforts in the battles that include the fight against counterfeit goods, distribution, and trade union relations. Together, we represent the industry, which is synonymous with taste and creativity. We are proud to be Ambassadors of Made in Italy.

We have succeeded in overcoming the individualism, which has characterized our system for quite some time now, added Marcolin.

The project is fruit of the Pesenti reform, which calls for the simplification of the acronyms used by industrial confederations and of the fashion table set up by the Ministry of Economic Development.