Confindustria Moda research shows that over 3.5 billion euros in revenues in the first quarter of 2020 were lost in Italian fashion and textile companies, with a sales reduction of about 9 billion euros by the end of this year. The report evaluated the output of SMI-Sistema Moda Italia companies and those which have been severely affected since February by the coronavirus outbreak in the region.
It showed, 42 per cent companies interviewed registered a loss between 20 and 50 per cent in revenues, while 28 per cent posted a decrease between 10 and 20 per cent. In addition, compared to the same period last year, for 49 per cent of the fashion and textile companies the number of collected orders decreased between 50 and 20 per cent.
As SMI president Marino Vago highlighted, in order to protect their workforce, 95 per cent companies included in the research used the wage support measures made available by the government and, to protect the safety of their employees, 80 per cent of them activated smart working.
Confindustria Moda ‘s research also centered on the fact that the main challenge they had to face during the emergency was the management of the relationships with customers for the Italian fashion and textile companies that took part in the survey. As Vago noted, since most SMI associates operate in the textile sector, requests from customers, sometimes large fashion groups, to postpone payments or revise contracts significantly affected them.
Furthermore, the research highlighted how Italian fashion and textile companies suffer from a lack of liquidity due to the low capitalization rate of medium and small businesses.
