Italian menswear revenue grows 3.4% in 2017, driven by exports to Germany, Russia and Asia

On the eve of the Pitti Uomo 94 menswear show, scheduled at the Fortezza da Basso venue in Florence on June 12 to 15, with 1,240 exhibitors (563 of which come from outside Italy) on a 60,000 m2 show area, organiser Pitti Immagine released the 2017 data on the Italian menswear sector. The survey was commissioned to the Research Centre of the Italian industrialists' association, Confindustria, by the national fashion and textile industry federation Sistema Moda Italia (SMI).

Made-in-Italy men’s fashion posted a 3.4% revenue growth in 2017, higher than the 2.1% rise initially forecast last January. Total menswear revenue was €9.3 billion, equivalent to a 17.2% share of Italy’s overall textile/fashion revenue, and a 27.4% one of apparel revenue alone. Knitwear (+7.6%) and garment manufacturing (+3.4%) posted positive results, while shirt and leather apparel production were down (by more than 2%) and ties did likewise (-9.5%).

Exports accounted for 65.5% of total menswear revenue, and they were worth €6.1 billion (+5.2%); EU exports, worth 54.2% of total exports, were up 6.6%, and those outside the EU increased too (+4.1%). In 2017, Germany took over from France as the main foreign market for Italian menswear exports, growing 10.1% to reach a revenue of €662 million. Exports to the UK also grew by a healthy 8.3%, making the UK Italy’s second-largest market. Both France (+3.8%) and Spain (+3.9%) posted positive results too, though the latter slowed down after the 15.4% leap in 2016.

Outside the EU, exports to Switzerland grew 7.5%, while those to the USA were down for the second year in succession (- 5.1%). In Asia, exports to China (+18.3%) and Korea (+13.8%) boomed, while there was a downturn in those to Japan (-5.1%) and Hong Kong (-0.5%). Russia was one of the most positive markets for Italian menswear in 2017, with exports growing by 19.6%.

In terms of revenue by distribution channel, Italian menswear posted weak growth in retail chains (+0.6%), which accounted for 36.8% of the total, in mass-market distribution (+0.3%, for a 21.9% share of the total) and in factory outlets and stock dealers (+1.3%). Independent retailers continued instead to lose ground (-9.3%, with a 25% share of total revenue) and so did street market vendors (-6.6%). After a +42% explosion in 2016, e-tail slowed down significantly, recording a 0.2% revenue slump, owing chiefly to lower apparel and knitwear sales.

Italian menswear revenue grows 3.4% in 2017, driven by exports to Germany, Russia and Asia

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