After the data from textiles and its fair, Milano Unica, the equally positive data from eyewear and Mido, the most important event in the sector on a global level, which opens on Saturday, again at Rho-Fiera Milano, with over a thousand exhibitors from 150 countries, including Asia, for the first time since 2019. Mido was in fact the first event to skip due to Covid and 2020 was, as for every economy, company and country, a year to forget, in which turnover less than 4 billion to just over 3, while maintaining almost the same share of exports (90%), confirmed in 2022 and which is the highest of the entire textile-fashion-accessory (Tma), which is worth 109 billion.
“On the one hand, we want and must leave the pandemic and everything it has entailed behind us, on the other we cannot hide the uncertainties of 2023, linked in particular to geopolitics”, explained Giovanni Vitaloni, president of Mido and Anfao (l ‘supply chain association) and entrepreneur in the sector with the Turin-based Vanni, which among other things has been a benefit company since 2021, the first in the eyewear sector, and which produces everything in Italy.
Awaiting the development of international scenarios with cautious optimism, the sector can count on the data for 2022: production grew by 24% to 5.17 billion and exports reached 5 billion, with the United States, as for many years , the first outlet market and which absorb over 30% of exports. «The rebound was faster and stronger than expected – underlined Vitaloni -. Compared to the approximately 4 billion in the pre-Covid year, we have grown by 30% and it is thanks to the entire supply chain, a heritage concentrated in the Veneto district of Belluno, but also present in other regions, and which is unique in the world“.
Alongside the giants of the sector, which we could define as leaders (Luxottica, Safilo, Marcolin, De Rigo, Kering Eyewear and Thelios) there are over 800 companies, many of which are SMEs, which over the years have continued to innovate products and processes, allowing the Italy to maintain world leadership in the medium-high and high-end segments. «More than those in turnover, I fear the drop in margins that we will see in 2023 and which we partially recorded in 2022 – said the president of Mido and Anfao -. Large companies can absorb them, SMEs and even smaller ones cannot and would be forced to cut investments in research, first of all, which are the engine of the sector and of the Tma as a whole”.
Over 20,000 visitors have pre-registered at Mido, which opens the day after tomorrow, and for the first time since 2019, Asian buyers and Chinese companies will return in large numbers. «The 2023 edition confirms the strong partnership with Fiera Milano, with which we have already agreed on the dates between now and 2026, and with Agenzia Ice – added Vitaloni -. The incoming project allows us to bring 180 people, including buyers and foreign press, from 42 countries to Milan. Over the years, even before the forced stop linked to Covid, I have heard that fairs, in the digital age, would have lost importance. Mido and many other events demonstrate that this is not the case: people come to Milan to see all the new products in the supply chain, to sign orders, observe trends and reflect on economic and social changes and on sustainability, a path that our sector has undertaken with conviction and commitment from well before it became of general interest».