This is what emerged from the first “Beat as One – Team Strategies for Growing Together” conference held this past 26 June at the Auditorium of the Università Bocconi in Milan. “We worked together towards a common goal and to help different industries with similar problems. We are the only completely integrated production supply chain from the start to the finish and we knew how to capably combine an artisanal legacy with an industry that is representative of our country worldwide – declared Claudio Marenzi, President of Confindustria Moda at the opening ceremony. “Even if in the past we have had our differences, – he added – today, we work as one, and after having accomplished the creation of shared services like the research and legal departments, we can now do better and much more: protecting the product, fighting for the Made in Italy label that certifies the quality and innovation of the Italian product, creating scenarios of mutually beneficial customs tariffs, reducing the fiscal wedge, working on sustainability and professional training…”.

Goals that are at hand for the fashion segment which, altogether, is worth 95.5 billion euros in revenue (+0.7%), employing 580 thousand individuals and contributing to 50% of the Italian balance of trade. As the second most important Italian manufacturing industry, fashion is not a short-lived and fleeting sector, but rather an extremely powerful industry.

The same themes were discussed in a round table by the Presidents of the confederate associations: Riccardo Braccialini, out-going President of Assopellettieri, Ivana Ciabatti from Federorafi, Annarita Pilotti, out-going President of Assocalzaturifici, Giovanni Russo from Unic-the Italian Tanners’ Association, Roberto Scarpella from Alp-the Italian Fur Association, Marino Vago from Smi-Italian Fashion System and Giovanni Vitaloni from Anfao-the Italian Optical Goods Manufacturers’ Association.

The conference continued with the presentation of three case histories of Made in Italy success. Marco Buglione from Basic Net spoke of how it is possible “to reanimate dead brands and give them new life” with a business model where the company supports independent entrepreneurs with marketing, communication, sourcing, and information technology strategies, which have guaranteed success for brands like Kappa, Robe di Kappa, Jesus Jeans, Superga, Sebago, and Kway. Matteo Marzotto, President of Dondup, explained how it is important “to stop beating ourselves up and instead focus on storytelling” as a factor for growth. Marco Palmieri, founder and President of Piquadro illustrated how private equity has been an important tool for growth in his company, which today has acquired two important brands like The Bridge and Lancel.

The conference ended with the speech of Vincenzo Boccia, President of Confindustria who, starting from the potential future economic scenario of Italy that was illustrated in a striking video, declared that it’s important to reintegrate words like “dream” and “hope” into our vocabulary so it is in fact possible to do so. A critical factor key to achieving this goal lies in the world of politics, where Confindustria is now entering it’s third phase of negotiations with regards to the new growth decree: “The way must be freed for new infrastructures, don’t carry on the minimum wage and protecting the VAT”, declares Vincenzo Boccia, who concludes, “We must pass from this time filled with worries to an awareness, a season that returns to the first article of the constitution”.