For centuries, the “Made in Italy” label has been a marker of the finest craftsmanship that money can buy. But, in recent years, luxury behemoths like Ralph Lauren and Valentino have shifted some manufacturing abroad to achieve cost savings or to produce their goods closer to burgeoning luxury markets in Asia, creating fear and shrieking in their home countries: what will happen to the local factories now? Well, what always happens when a cycle comes to its natural conclusion: they will begin anew.
In recent years, Italian fashion conglomerates and production houses have quietly been acquiring stakes in, and signing licensing deals with, promising young designers whose businesses are still in the embryonic stages. While many traditional strategic investors and private equity firms find these companies too early in their development for investment consideration, the Italian firms see it as not only investment in a brand, but in Italian manufacturing.
