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Training and sustainability are the new challenges of luxury, the central theme of the Luxury Summit 2024, the traditional Sole 24 Ore event now in its 16th edition and created in collaboration with HTSI. An industry, that of luxury, «which even in the worst moments has continued to give satisfaction – explained the director of Il Sole 24 Ore, Fabio Tamburini at the beginning –, but which is now suffering the effects of extraordinary events such as the Russia first and the wars in Ukraine and Palestine, but also the policies to fight inflation which are putting important countries for this sector to the test”. Sustainability, innovation and training are strategic levers of growth «to guarantee a future for companies in the sector by combining craftsmanship with technology», says Federico Silvestri, general director of Media and Business of the 24 ORE Group and CEO of 24 ORE Eventi.
If the moment is complex, forecasts tell us that luxury consumers are destined to increase by 20% in the next five years, reaching 500 million. Carlo Capasa, president of the National Chamber of Fashion, said it: «The fear of many companies is the scarcity of production and in the medium term there will be a need for work. We must therefore attract young people by focusing on innovation, training, but above all by paying them more without increasing the cost of labor. So we need to work on the tax wedge.” Capasa then underlined the need to “work better on collaboration between public and private” as well as “improving education in schools, connecting them to companies”.
Unfortunately, according to Giovanna Ceolini, president of Assocalzaturifici and member of the Confindustria Moda education committee, a step backwards has been taken on this issue due to production in crisis. Instead, we need to continue “to dialogue with schools and bring students into factories because the professionalism of the craftsman is a vision that we must give to young people”. Also because «346 thousand profiles are needed in the seven sectors that we represent, from fashion to automotive to design – confirmed Stefania Lazzaroni, general director of the Altagamma Foundation -. Only 50% of these profiles can be found if we continue like this. We need to raise awareness among families on the topic, but also intercept schools and direct them to the right type of training for manufacturing talents.”
Generational change is fundamental “so as not to end up with a supply chain of old people”: this was said by Sergio Tamborini, president of Sistema moda Italia, according to whom the textile and fashion supply chain “must become sexier for the new generations. The issue is quite complicated and companies and unions are not enough. If the Government doesn’t play the game, we run the risk that they will try to imitate us from outside or come and take entire pieces of our manufacturing.”
Artisans must be created, trained and valorised. Diego Della Valle, president and CEO of the Tod’s group, is also convinced of this: «Craftsmanship must absolutely be supported because the quality of Made in Italy that we want to spread around the world comes through savoir faire. Today the craftsman is a rare commodity. We can open shops all over the world, but we have to put people in the factories.” And there is another aspect that should not be underestimated, concluded Della Valle: «We cannot think of being ambassadors of the quality of Made in Italy if we do not guarantee the quality of life of the people who work in our companies. Social sustainability is important and we are in the front row on this front.”