Leather industry bodies including UNIC, Assocalzaturifici, Assopellettieri and the Associazione Italiana Pellicceria took part in a wider meeting between Italy’s fashion sector and the government’s minister for business and ‘Made in Italy’, Adolfo Urso on August 6. By Leatherbiz.

This was the fifth time the so-called Fashion Roundtable has met since it was set up to discuss ways in which the government can help the fashion sector in the face of “the systemic crisis that has gripped fashion production” since the latter part of 2023.

After the meeting, Assopellettieri president, Claudia Sequi, highlighted the importance of working with the government at a time when business is difficult for member companies. She said inflation and increases in interest rates had left many companies facing “a cash-flow crisis”.

Ms Sequi explained that the sector encompasses around 11,500 companies in Italy, with combined revenues of around €33 billion per year. “We are going through a complex period,” she said, “and we are having to face up to situations many of us have never seen before.”

She added that some companies are genuinely at risk of having to close down. She said: “Without government intervention we are at risk of being unable to keep the system going. This means we are at risk of losing skills, tens of thousands of jobs and the high quality of our products. And, as a final consequence, we risk losing Made in Italy.”