The 27th season of the Italian textile and accessories exhibition Milano Unica, which took place in July, showed a high interest of market participants from different countries. More than 6,000professional visitors were registered at the exhibition.

Compared to last year, the number of foreign enterprises that took part in the exhibition has increased. Delegation of manufacturers from The Netherlands grew by 7%, from the USA by 9%, from Japan by 6%, from China by 5%, from France and Germany by 3% for each country. A slight decrease in the number of Italian enterprises was not an indicator of a decrease in interest in the event, but simply illustrated the current trends towards business integration at the international level against the background of the growing interest of the foreign business community.

Both participants and visitors of the exhibition represented the countries that are part of the strategic textile industry markets. Once again Italy has confirmed its role as a key link in the chain of international supplies of textiles, accessories and accessories. Collections of premium products for the autumn-winter 2019/20 season were presented at the exhibition, which aroused commercial interest among designers and manufacturers of clothing, shoes and accessories from around the world.

The 27th season of Milano Unica took place thanks to the support of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and the ICE Agency. The efforts of the agency's operational group staff helped 475 exhibitors take part in the exhibition, which is 4% more than in July 2017. In addition, the exhibition was attended by 132 manufacturing companies from Japan and Korea, as well as a special Passion and Beliefs zone designed for manufacturers of high-quality handmade semi-finished products under the signMade in Italy. The joint efforts of the organizers of the exhibition, the Ministry and the ICE Agency led to an increase in the number of exhibitors to 607 companies.

The 27th season of the exhibition opened in a new, unusual format for the participants. Instead of the opening ceremony with the summing up of the last season, a round table was held on the responsibility of various players in the textile market to nature and the future of our planet. The moderator of the round table, Maria Silvia Sacchi, a journalist of the Italian edition Il Corriere della Sera, formulated the main line of discussion: "Textile production as part of the fashion industry pollutes the environment the most and is becoming an increasingly serious problem for future generations. There is only one solution to take stability as seriously as possible and take care of the environment both from the point of view of production and from the point of view of its quality. Their own position on this important issue was revealed in their speeches: Ercole Botto Paola, President Milano Unica; Andrea Crespi, Chairman Sistema Moda Italia Sustainable Development Committee; Carlo Capasa, President of the Italian National Chamber of Fashion, and Marino Vago, President of Sistema Moda Italia.

The ON Tour event, which has been held for the third season, has also been successfully held and reveals the deeper meaning of the concept of Made in Italy, showing a special point of view on Italian creativity, quality, style and tailoring, which allows recognizing the primacy of the Italian textile industry. The gala evening of the 27th season of Milano Unica was dedicated to the Piedmont region and the 40th anniversary of the Ideabiella exposition, which became the main part of the exhibition in the existing format. The trend zone organized at the exhibition enjoyed the traditional attention of textile workers and designers from around the world.

"A slight decrease in the number of Italian enterprises, of course, is due to the tightening of the criteria by which we selected companies. But at the same time, the results of the last season confirmed our decision to finally postpone the dates of the summer season of the exhibition to July. From now on, this will become a permanent practice: Milano Unica will be held in February and in July. This is not our whim. This decision is based on the feedback of the exhibition participants and its visitors, as well as on the figures that show stable and steady growth. It is worth saying that the increase in the number of manufacturers of women's textiles and accessories among the exhibitors has made the exposition more balanced.

Ercole Botto Poala, President of Milano Unica

"Positive feedback about the past season from both exhibitors and visitors suggests that we were able to assemble a unique exposition. This applies both to the quality of the services provided and the quality of the goods presented at the stands. All this shows that our positioning in the international textile market has been chosen correctly, and confirms the correctness of our decisions," said Massimo Moziello, CEO of Milano Unica, who has been heading the exhibition since its foundation. But our success should not be taken for granted. We have gathered a unique, time-tested team of professionals who are not afraid of problems and changes and consistently make very successful decisions. In addition, Milano Unica can always count on the ICE Agency, which provides the event with constant support. This season, the Agency not only organized large delegations of buyers from the United States, Japan, China and Korea, but also provided advertising for the exhibition in specialized international professional publications.

The growing attention of textile workers to production technologies shows that the development in the fashion industry is taking leaps and bounds and only innovative solutions will be able to bring the industry to a new level, so necessary for its success in the modern world. The organizers of the exhibition will make every effort to collect unique products and technologies in the coming seasons and give the industry the opportunity to get acquainted with these novelties. And the Italian production and supply chain guarantees their highest quality.

The 14th season of Milano Unica China will be held from September 27 to 29 in Shanghai, and the 28th season of Milano Unica will bring together industry professionals from February 5 to 7, 2019 in Fieramilano Rho.