Italy’s prime minister promises boost for footwear
Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni was the guest of honour at shoe fair Micam, which took place in Milan (September 17 to 20).
He told visitors: “The growth of GNP, the boost to employment, the extraordinary recovery of exports - especially in the first six months of the year - are reassuring factors, although we certainly haven’t returned to pre-crisis levels.
“To protect the footwear industry, in the next budget we intent to include a package of measures to facilitate companies’ innovations and, most of all, to put in place the Industry 4.0 system.
“The government’s target is to enhance craftsmanship, skills and the footwear industry with marketing incentives.”
He also praised the organisers of Micam, the entrepreneurs and the manufacturers in Italy’s Marche region, where 300 people were killed in earthquakes in August 2016.
More than 1,440 exhibitors signed up to the September edition of Micam, to show their spring-summer 2018 collections.
The show has a renewed focus on luxury, with newcomers Giorgio Armani, Jimmy Choo, Sergio Rossi and Ermenegildo Zegna joining Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Prada and Tod’s, which first exhibited in February.
