The fairs close with 30 thousand visits but the war is holding back the recovery

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If Covid has taught companies (Italian and non, fashionable and not only) anything, it is to react quickly and resolutely to the problems that arise. This is what the companies that presented their footwear, leather goods and clothing collections at the Milan-Rho Fair are doing: Micam, Mipel, The One and Homi. Four events that made up a team registering, in the span of five days, just under 30 thousand presences, equally divided between Italy and abroad.

A showcase for the 1,400 brands that aim to put the two-year pandemic behind them, but find themselves having to deal with the conflict in Ukraine and all its indirect effects, including sanctions and the soaring energy costs and of logistics.

At Micam there are 821 exhibitors: ranging from SMEs to the most well-known brands, passing through emerging ones and green projects, to which an entire pavilion is dedicated. The aisles of the fair, for the first time in about two years, have been repopulated with visitors from abroad, especially from Europe. But the weight of the lack of the former USSR area and of China is felt. «Right now it is normal that the fairs are not doing their best: half the world is missing, both in terms of exhibitors and retailers. But being present at this edition of Micam is an important sign “, says Valerio Tatarella, founder and CEO of Primadonna collection, Bari brand of footwear and accessories at an affordable price. The company, which closed 2021 with revenues of 88 million, has 290 stores in Italy and around 30 franchisees in Mediterranean Europe (mainly France and Spain). It has no shops in Russia or Eastern Europe, but it still takes into account the exponential increase in prices: «Transport costs for those who import from abroad have already skyrocketed in the last two years. Going back to producing in Italy? I tried to reopen a factory in Trani, but finding staff is difficult ». Many of the Micam exhibitors achieve a good share of turnover in the ex-USSR markets.

For them, too, being there is a sign of strength: «The fair is going fairly well – he says Fabio Rusconi, founder and owner of the footwear company of the same name – and there is a great desire to restart ». The company achieves 90% of its turnover abroad; 55% in Japan and 20% in the former USSR and Eastern Europe: “The war affects us both in terms of business, because finding an alternative to these markets is almost impossible, both emotionally, given that we have relationships in Ukraine long-time professionals “. Then there is the question of Russia: “Our customers want to order and are selling a lot because people prefer to buy goods rather than maintain liquidity.” Rusconi is echoed by Mara Visonà, owner of the leather bags and accessories company founded by her father Plinio, in Mipel with the brand Mink: «Over time we have diversified, but in Russia we still make a good share of our turnover. The problem is the sanctions, because the shops continue to order and the end customers to buy: it is better to have the goods than the liquidity ». According to Mara Visonà, the fair «is going well: we have had visits from Europeans, an area in which we are working best, and from markets we have not seen for a while, such as the UK and the US. And with a positive attitude, compatibly with the period ».

A period in which companies need support: “Support is needed, especially on the export front,” says Visonà. An appeal in line with that of Smi and Assocalzaturifici who have requested a special Cig from the Ministry of Labor. “We are emerging from a delicate situation for Covid and we are in a difficult moment on the Russia front: the desire to buy collides with the possibility of having active transaction channels”, says Paolo Cardelli, member of the board of directors of RipaniAbruzzo-based company of made in Italy bags founded in 1967. “At the fair we saw Europeans and Italians: sales went well, the shops need to be set up in the end”.