“GAME CHANGERS”: MICAM CELEBRATES FOOTWEAR MAKERS LEADING THE STYLE REVOLUTION

MICAM unveils its new communication campaign: ahead of the much-anticipated edition from 23 to 25 February 2025 at Fiera Milano, the latest creative concept highlights the craftsmanship and innovation of Italy’s footwear industry, reaffirming its status as a symbol of MADE IN ITALY excellence.

Milan, 8 January 2025 – Innovators, resilient pioneers, rewriting the past while preserving tradition. This is the essence of footwear makers, and MICAM, the International Footwear Show, is honouring them with a new communication campaign to celebrate their excellence at its upcoming edition, taking place from 23 to 25 February at Fiera Milano.

“We have chosen to dedicate this year’s institutional campaign to the extraordinary people who drive the footwear industry forward. Their craftsmanship, expertise, and profound knowledge leave a lasting impact. Footwear makers are the guardians of an ancient tradition, yet they lead the way in constant innovation. Season after season, they transform their heritage by introducing cutting-edge materials, pioneering techniques, and boldly shaping the future of design and style - all while embracing sustainability. They are the ones rewriting the rules of the game. That’s why we want to celebrate them as true ‘Game Changers,’ making this concept the cornerstone of our new communication campaign,” proudly states Giovanna Ceolini, President of MICAM and Assocalzaturifici.

Being a “Game Changer” means embracing fresh ideas and driving innovation to reshape market dynamics - paving the way for meaningful change. This is why MICAM is celebrating the key players of the footwear manufacturing industry—companies that prioritize innovation and explore new frontiers to keep this dynamic industry evolving and distinctive. The retailers and manufacturers in this unique field consistently challenge conventions, edition after edition. By deeply understanding the past, they are able to innovate and redefine the future. MICAM’s mission is to reinforce its role as a global reference point for those who look ahead with ambition - resilient in the face of challenges and ready to reinvent themselves with courage, determination, and passion.

Don’t miss MICAM Milano from 23 to 25 February 2025 at Fiera Milano.

ITALIAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY: EXPORTS (-9.2%) AND TURNOVER (-9.7%) SLOW DOWN IN THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2024

Giovanna Ceolini, Chair of Assocalzaturifici: "The phase of weak demand, compounded by a lower consumer propensity to purchase, a slowdown in several economies and uncertainty resulting from the geopolitical turmoil, has significantly affected orders, including in the luxury segment"

The Italian footwear sector had a first half of the year with falling turnover (-9.1%) and exports (down -8.5% in value and -6.8% in volume in the first five months). The Istat index of industrial production also fell sharply (-19.5%). This is the snapshot for the sector provided by the latest report by the Confindustria Accessori Moda Research Centre for Assocalzaturifici, which also reveals lower purchases by Italian households (- 2.1% in both volume and expenditure).

According to Assocalzaturifici Chair Giovanna Ceolini: “The phase of weak demand, compounded by a lower consumer propensity to purchase, a slowdown in several economies (not only China) and uncertainty resulting from the geopolitical turmoil in different parts of the world, has significantly affected orders, including in the luxury segment. The economic downturn is having a strong impact on the production trends of companies, which have increased their use of wage support. There was also an increase in the negative balances in the number of employees and companies trading compared to December 2023”.

The most significant effects occurred in foreign trade. "Exports have been affected most significantly,” states Ceolini, “despite traditionally representing the sector's driving force, since 85% of the shoes produced in Italy are sold outside the country. The balance of trade for the sector still shows a surplus of EUR 2.34 billion, but this drop in foreign sales (-8.5%) represents a decrease of -4.7%, and comes despite a concurrent reduction in imports (-11.6%)”.

Examining the export data in detail, the slight reductions in sales to fellow EU members (-1.6% in value and -2.4% in volume, boosted by steady flows to France, +2.6% in value and +1.5% in volume, which confirmed its status as the leading destination market) occurred alongside reductions in the order of -15% to non-EU markets. Of these, the only increases in sales were recorded in the Middle East (+10.7% in value) and Far East (+2.9%, with China +12.6% and Hong Kong +22.6%). However, these are to be interpreted mainly through the lens of changing distribution strategies for luxury brands that are strongly rooted in these areas and now ship directly to final destination markets, rather than have goods transit through hubs in Switzerland (which therefore sees a corresponding -54.7% slump in value). The USA dropped -3.5% in value (and a much more pronounced -14.7% in volume), while, following the collapse in 2022 at the start of the conflict with Ukraine and the sharp recovery in 2023, Russia experienced a -21.7% drop in value over the period January-May 2023.

Even in terms of domestic consumption in Italy, the figures are not positive: in the first six months of the year, Italian households' purchases fell by -2.1%, in both volume and expenditure. Shifting the analysis to types of footwear, the biggest decreases were for men's shoes (-5.7% in volume and -4.6% in expenditure), while women's and children's shoes showed decreases in the order of -3%, in both volume and in value. “Sport shoes and sneakers” had the most limited reductions (-1% in volume and -0.6% in value). Finally, slippers dropped by 1.7% in volume (despite women's slippers holding up), with a -0.7% drop in expenditure. While household purchases show little positive development, there is once again good news from the shopping of foreigners visiting Italy, thanks to the increase in foreign tourist arrivals and stays in the country, after the strong growth in 2023.

On the labour front, the prolonged economic downturn is severely testing the resilience of companies, which are forced to make extensive use of wage support instruments. Indeed, in the leather sector, the number of authorised hours increased by +138.5% in the first 6 months, and is now 4.5 times higher than it was during the same period in 2019, before the pandemic. Moreover, the selection process among companies is even more pronounced, with inevitable repercussions on employment trends. At the end of June, there were 107 fewer shoe factories, across industry and handicrafts (-3%) compared to December, with a negative balance of -2,359 employees (-3.2%): this represents a sharp reversal from the timid signs of recovery seen in the sector's workforce at the end of 2023 over 2022 (+1.8%).

In terns of sentiment, the expectations of footwear businesses for the second half of the year appear to rule out major improvements in the short term. The survey of member companies shows that the share of respondents expecting turnover to fall in Q3 - compared to the same months in 2023 - still represents the majority (56% of the panel). And with regard to forecasts for the whole year, 3 out of 4 businesses believe that 2024 will be a worse year for their company than 2023.

ASSOCALZATURIFICI: INTERNATIONALISATION AND TRAINING THE MOST URGENT CHALLENGES FOR THE SECTOR

GIORGIO POSSAGNO IS ASSOCALZATURIFICI’S
NEW GENERAL MANAGER

GIOVANNA CEOLINI CONFIRMED AS PRESIDENT OF ASSOCALZATURIFICI
(Italian Footwear Manufacturers’ Association)
In office until 2027

Milan March 8, 2024 - Sustainability, digitalization, innovation, Made in Italy, and tertiary as drivers for the development of the sector, with a focus on training to make footwear an attractive sector for young people. These are the guidelines until June 2027, of Giovanna Ceolini, who was confirmed as President of Assocalzaturifici by the Assembly of members that met yesterday.

With more than 450 member companies, the Association, nationally represents companies of an industrial nature operating in the footwear manufacturing sector.

"It is indeed with great emotion," Ceolini comments, "that I face this mandate of mine. We have a challenging job ahead of us. We have to respond to a conjuncture that is not easy, in a geopolitical framework dominated by uncertainty, with initiatives and projects that support our companies in international markets. Today, more than ever, it is important to put the interests of the industry, and therefore our Association, back at the center. We can do this by returning to frank and constructive dialogue and confrontation. In this I will not be alone, but supported by a team composed of professionals of undoubted value." Joining the President were Giuseppe Baiardo, Vice President for Training and Orientation, Luisa Benigno, Vice President for Business Culture and Productive Strategies, Giuseppe Camerlengo Vice President for International Affairs, and Valentino Fenni Vice President for Russia, C.S.I. Area and Made in Italy.

Ceolini, highlighted the most salient aspects of her program, from internationalization, to the promotion of Made in Italy footwear in the world, consolidating mature markets and seeking new opportunities in emerging ones, to the collaboration with the main technical institutes and professional schools to encourage generational turnover. Other objectives include the enhancement of third-party companies, better known as CDMOs (contract development and manufacturing organizations), to defend the traditional craftsmanship of Italian manufacturing. Profuse support is also given to trade fair policies starting with MICAM Milan, the world's most important event in the sector. Among the projects in the pipeline are the reorganization of the pavilions, the strengthening of the MICAMX area, with a focus on seminar content, the section dedicated to the retail of the future, communication and events. There will be no shortage of consolidation of CIMAC, a laboratory specializing in testing for the footwear and fashion industry, which ensures product quality and excellence and compliance with global standards. In fact a support to companies, in an increasingly complex regulatory framework, through testing and certification services. And then, development of VCS - Verified and Certified Steps, the first sustainability certification mark for the footwear industry. A scheme that sensitizes companies to the adoption of a comprehensive sustainability strategy by working on internal processes, supply chain traceability, information collection and organization with a system of procedures for improvement and advancement against the most widespread international sustainability parameters and standards.

THE ITALIAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY 2023

THE ITALIAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY: POOR PERFORMANCE IN THE THIRD QUARTER. STRONG GROWTH AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, WITH BOTH TURNOVER (+3%) AND EXPORTS (+3.2%) UP IN THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2023
The domestic market remained steady (-1.3% household spending). Further deceleration is expected in the final figures.

Italy’s footwear sector grew moderately in the first nine months of 2023, registering an increase in both turnover (+3% according to a survey of a sample of members) and exports by value (+3.2%) compared to the same period in the previous year. This is the snapshot provided by the Confindustria Moda Research Centre for Assocalzaturifici, which however reveals a drop in the volume of sales. After bouncing back in the previous two years, the number of pairs sold abroad began to fall once again (-8.7% on January-September 2022), as did sales on the Italian market (-3.1%), with the ISTAT index of industrial production down by -7.4%. The setback in the third quarter weighed heavily on results, closing with -7.2% in foreign sales in terms of value (-12.3% in terms of quantity) and -1.5% in household spending within Italy.

According to Giovanna Ceolini, Chair of Assocalzaturifici, "After a very positive start, 2023 closed with a downward slide, partly due to major increases in costs affecting companies’ profit margins. Once the post-Covid rebound was over, the pace of sales slowed markedly, beginning as early as the Spring and becoming even more obvious in the third quarter of the year. This widely expected trend was definitely not facilitated by the uncertainty of the difficult international geopolitical scenario, when, in addition to the war between Russia and Ukraine, events in the Middle East came to a head, with a real risk of the conflict spreading, in addition to the weakness of the economy in several important areas of the world.”

The report shows how, among the main foreign markets, EU markets performed best overall, growing 8.5% in value despite a -6.1% drop in volume over January-September 2022, while non-EU destinations showed an even heavier setback in terms of quantity (-13.4%), accompanied by a negative sign in value (-1.2%).
Alongside the resilience of France (+1% in volume and +17.1% in value), there was a strong contraction (-32.4% in pairs and -22.5% in value) in flows to Switzerland, traditionally a logistics hub for the fashion multinationals (which have, at least to some extent, replaced transit through Swiss warehouses with direct shipments to their final destination markets). Sales declined significantly in the third quarter (with a drop of more than -20%) in the USA (which registered a decline of -21.7% in terms of quantity and -7.4% in terms of value in the first nine months) and in Germany (-16.6% in number of pairs, though stable in value). Sales in China continued to perform well (+17.2% in volume and +12.2% in value), despite a downturn in value in the third quarter (though the average price per pair, above 200 euro, remains by far the highest). Russia and Ukraine continued to recover (+40% and +88% in value respectively over January-September 2022), although sales in these two markets still remain below pre-war levels.

On the domestic front, moreover, while 2023 saw increased tourism, with positive repercussions on shopping by foreign visitors to Italy, footwear purchases by Italian households showed a lacklustre trend, closing the first nine months with negative signs (both in pairs, -3.1%, and in expenditure, -1.3%) compared to the same period in 2022 and, above all, about 5% below the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, already largely unsatisfactory after years of continuous erosion. The abnormally warm weather of autumn, with almost spring-like temperatures, discouraged purchases of winter clothing and shoes.

Finally, the process of natural selection among companies has not ceased (-148 companies, between industry and crafts, in the first nine months, i.e. -3.9%), despite the fact that employment is holding up (+2.1%, although still about a thousand employees below 2019 levels). Increased use of wage support in the leather industry (+6.1%) is, however, a discouraging sign.

Assocalzaturifici Chair Ceolini, took the opportunity offered by the presentation of the figures on performance of the footwear sector to discuss the final approval of the “Made in Italy” bill and the 2024 Budget: "I am satisfied with these measures, which provide for the enhancement and promotion of strategic assets for relaunching the economy and employment in the country, such as protection of supply chains through the “Made in Italy” sovereign fund and support for international trade fairs. I see these as two indispensable tools for enhancing the value of our country's manufacturing SMEs and boosting their competitiveness on international markets. Like the Digital Transition Fund, which in our case is also relevant considering the commitment and leading role of Assocalzaturifici in environmental certification through the VCS mark. I also approve the increase in resources allocated to fighting counterfeiting and “Italian-sounding” names, two phenomena that are detrimental to our products, and the further extension to 30 July 2024 of the deadline for submitting applications for spontaneous repayment of unduly received R&D tax credits. The latter is a thorny issue that is becoming unsustainable for our companies. It is necessary to ensure that the implementing decree for the creation of the registers of accredited certifiers is approved as soon as possible, in order to clearly define what is really to be included in research and development. This is the only solution to protect those who have complied with the rules.”

 

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