Assocalzaturifici held its Annual Meeting the past few days in Bologna. The meeting had to be held behind closed doors due to the pandemic, but the issues discussed will be the focus of an event to be attended in person at the end of the year. At the meeting, Chair Siro Badon emphasised the impact of Covid-19 on the footwear industry, one of the hardest-hit sectors of production, along with other components of the Italian Textiles, Fashion and Accessories sector. In 2020 the sector lost about 1/4 of its total turnover (with the final balance being 10.72 billion euro, -25.2% compared to 2019) and national production. There were sharp reductions in both foreign trade and domestic consumption. After the collapse in levels of business during the first part of the year, as a result of the lockdown, there was just some respite in the severity of the decline in the next two quarters (although this still remained in double-digit territory), as opposed to a V-shaped recovery.

“We would like to remark to all international buyers: Italian regulations allow you to travel to Italy. The European Commission and the Italian Government have prepared specific plans of action to ease business activities”. SIMAC TANNING TECH, the international exhibition of machines and technologies for Footwear, Leathergoods and Tanning industry, that will be held from 22nd to 24th September 2021 at Milano Fiera Rho, closes the first round of applications with a positive result: more than 200 exhibitor requests, from machinery’ manufacturers and technology providers, to chemical auxiliaries and service suppliers for the Footwear and Leather processing sectors, that are ready for a comeback and to restart from the international stage offered by Simac Tanning Tech, with an exhibition area of roughly 9.000 mq.

JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE OF THE GERMAN CLOTHING INDUSTRY Thursday, 22 July 2021, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon, Alte Schmiedehallen, Areal Böhler According to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, 87.2% of the German economy was not directly affected by the lockdown. But the clothing industry, and retailers in particular, had the misfortune of belonging to the other 12.8%. BTE – Handelsverband Textil (Textile Trade Association) GermanFashion Modeverband Deutschland e.V. styleranking DMI Deutsches Mode-Institut (German Fashion Institute) will be getting together for a joint press conference, where they will be taking stock of the current situation and discussing the consequences and outlooks for the post-pandemic world.