Italy’s positive mood helps make Mipel a success
The Mipel leathergoods exhibition in Milan came to a successful conclusion on September 21. The president of Italy’s main leathergoods manufacturers’ association Assopellettieri, Franco Gabbrielli, told leatherbiz he was pleased with how the three-day event had gone.
“We weren’t completely sure what to expect,” Mr Gabbrielli said, “but there seems to have been a change in the mood since the summer.”
He explained that a settled government since Mario Draghi became prime minister in February, an extensive covid vaccination programme and even the success of the country’s team at the European football Championship in July had helped make the mood more positive.
“At the start of September, furniture exhibition Salone del Mobile took place in Milan and it went really well,” Mr Gabbrielli continued, “and this made me think people are confident that the difficult situation we have had because of covid-19 has ended.”
At Mipel, Assopellettieri announced that its member companies had achieved export revenue sof €4.6 billion in the first half of 2021, an increase of 31.3% compared to the same period in 2020, but 11.1% below 2019 levels.
The standout category was leather handbags, which contributed €2 billion to the total for the six-month period.
Assopellettieri has calculated that its member companies used more than 11,300 tonnes of leather to make the goods they exported in the first half of 2021.
