China, the largest consumer market for luxury goods, and Italy, the kingdom of luxury goods, have been ravaged by the new coronavirus. Industry sources said that global luxury brands such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton are cutting orders from Italian suppliers.
Reuters reported that Italy has dozens of professional manufacturers of high-end products, ranging from shoes, leather goods to men’s clothing. But Italy is now the country most severely affected by the coronavirus outside China, prompting authorities in Rome to order a lockdown in wealthy northern Italy.
Reuters visited a number of textile and leather goods suppliers in Tuscany and the Veneto region affected by the lockdown. Many people said that as early as the 8th, before the city was closed, luxury brands began to cut orders at the end of January due to the sharp drop in demand in China.
A small supplier of high-end brands of Kering SA said: We can produce 800-1,000 handbags for Gucci every month. In February we made Ordered 450 units, and then there were no orders in March.
This business owner said: We didn’t even have orders in April and May, and there was no movement from the company, so we had to temporarily lay off employees.
Like most other businesses, this supplier did not want to be interviewed for fear of losing future orders. His production base is located in Scandicci, near Florence, the Italian leather goods town, and employs eight people.
Chinese consumers contribute more than one-third of the global luxury goods market. As the authorities strive to combat the epidemic, these luxury brands have been forced to close stores or put aside store exhibitions. plan, and defer local advertising expenditures.
The COVID-19 epidemic is spreading around the world, and the situation in Italy is particularly serious. With both the United Kingdom and the United States issuing travel warnings for Italy, the tourism industry has suffered further setbacks. The 90 billion euro fashion and textile industry will face a major sales hit.
Claudio Marenzi, who is responsible for the fashion industry at the Italian Industry Federation (Confindustria), said that foreign buyers of Italian textiles began to cancel orders at the end of February, and some Retail store sales were cut in half.
Marenzi said that since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia in China, we knew that the performance in the first quarter would decline, but now for us, it is all Annual results are at risk of being wiped out.
