In our last Face2Face talk with your Group’s former president Mr Marco Vanzini, it was a great deal of information to learn about MarediModa Group activities those days. Thanking for the opportunity once again, extending you a heartiest welcome on this channel, Mr Taiana, we would request you to apprise us how has your group enhanced its services and intensified its role in gone two years?
Well, as you know, MarediModa Group, a non-profit cooperative company, is the reference point for sector businesses, making progress in its commitment to offering real support to beachwear and lingerie textiles manufacturers.
MarediModa – IntimodiModa (25-27 November 2009) has gradually become a paradigm of the international trade fair organized by businesses for businesses, with the objective of promoting high quality European production in fabrics and accessories for the beachwear and lingerie sector.
In the past two years, Maredimoda has become the first organization to understand the importance of finding a highly qualified alternative to outsourcing sector production to the Far East. It introduced a selection of textile manufacturers from the Euromed area (Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean) at the event Maredimoda held in Cannes.
The MarediModa Preview in Munich (13-14 October 2009) has established itself as a niche engagement in which beachwear companies can give a sneak peak of their beach collections to customers from Central and Eastern Europe.
What’s more, Maredimoda also organizes commercial missions in order to explore new opportunities for business in emerging markets. In early June, nine Italian companies have completed a four-day mission to Tunisia, a developing market that could lead to interesting business developments for our sector.
Well on that note, am sure our visitors would go inquisitive about those countries which could be counted as established /emerging markets besides Tunisia?
Speaking of high quality products, Italy has surely maintained its role in the field of textiles, partly thanks to technological investments aimed at maintaining very high production standards.
Niche production is still common in Germany and France. As regards third-party assembly, the Mediterranean basin is assuming increasing importance with Tunisia in the lead, while high quality production can also be seen in Bulgaria and Romania.
And, how about China, Mr Taiana? For these days, we can also see China as a major player in your industry. What is your take on this?
Europe has had to endure the invasion of Chinese products after the entry of China into the WTO. China is now a major player in the beachwear and lingerie markets, especially as regards lower to medium market brackets and products for the masses. Europe has come very close to losing its identity, assaulted by China’s lack of regulations and unorthodox business philosophy.
In these last few years, we have been witnessing a restoration of balance, a strong return toward high quality European production and toward clothing assembly with high quality standards and more flexible times, offered by the Mediterranean and Eastern European nations.
Being the voice for Italian beachwear fabric industry, which all facts would you bring to light as the present bottlenecks of this industry (lets keep recession aside)? How does being a MarediModa members help to amass the fortune in the market?
In addition to the well known difficulties on the market in terms of the economic downturn and which have touched all the sectors, structural problems have also emerged. Going back a moment to my previous response, I repeat that a repositioning has to take place between the Far East and Europe. Clearly, we can only sustain lower levels of employment if we maintain high quality production.
Being members of MarediModa, or exhibitors at our exhibitions, means being part of a large company formed by micro-businesses, with all the benefits of being part of a system that protects the work of European businesses without losing the specific characteristics of each individual business, a feature that still represents an added value in our sector.
“Let's defend the value of ideas. Let's defend creativity.” What is this tenet all about?
The mission of MarediModa is to protect the quality and creativity of European production.
We are currently witnessing the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, namely, the return to Europe of many specialists in beachwear and lingerie, who believe it is essential to produce in Europe the most qualified part of their collection, tired of the increasing depersonalization of their lines due to the mass-produced and characterless style of Asian production. MarediModa – IntimodiModa is more than a receptacle for ideas, it is a platform of advanced services, a centre of excellence that is also a dynamic defense of the European textile culture known to be impossible to reach by all high quality manufacturers.
Interesting! Through MarediModa S.c.a.r.l, your group has been convening the fairs past six years now, in your view, where has the science and art of organizing trade fair for this sector re-engineered itself especially to retort and win over the situation of current crisis?
The current economic crisis is reshaping relationships between exhibitors and exhibition centres. Successful exhibitions are the ones that are specialized toward the top and which have figured out a way to eliminate the distances between exhibitors and organizers, while placing a strong accent on the services and making an exclusive offer rather than a generalized and uncoordinated event. MarediModa S.c.a.r.l. is not an exhibition centre but the expression of the businesses and will continue to provide a service to sector operators through the event in Cannes and the commercial missions organized during the year.
MarediModa has continued its run and is taking the lead since it brings with it deep values and a unique philosophy. Maredimoda does not follow the usual commercial tack of exhibition centres dedicated primarily to the sale of exhibition spaces and exhibitors are not customers but players that contribute to affirmation of our event. The Cannes engagement is the most important in the world in the high quality beachwear and lingerie sector. Visitors have acclaimed the success and what takes place year in and year out, proof of the strength that Made in Europe products still possess.
The current crisis has certainly changed the market structure and forced companies to cope with a new way of doing business with increasingly fragmented orders and shorter times. In such a scenario, the flexibility of our businesses could be rewarding in the short- and long-term.
And lastly, we wish to know MarediModa's activities to encourage the emerging talents making industry still innovative?
MarediModa strongly believes in young talents. This year, it has planned major investments in promoting new young talents with the launch of its new talent scouting competition, THE LINK.
The competition is free of charge and open to students of fashion design as well as others in design and communications from the 100 European design schools.
All the finalists will be invited to Cannes on the occasion of MarediModa – IntimodiModa for the Official Awards Ceremony, during which the winner will be recognized. All finalists will be introduced to the press, the fashion houses and the style offices. The winners’ designs in beachwear and lingerie will be the stars of a fashion show celebrating their creative content while the first place winner in the concept & communication area will exhibit the award-winning advertising work on a jumbotron. The events will be documented in a photo shoot and a video and will be followed by a press release especially dedicated to the event.
The top three finalists in each area will be present in the exhibition (nine in all) which will provide a mini-atelier for each reference area (three in all) to gather the designs produced as if it were a real showroom. Furthermore, the three winners will take home a cash prize and will be involved in a dynamic and exciting training project in the Como fashion district.
Thank you so much, Mr Taiana! Its been pleasure speaking to you!
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
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