2' min read
2' min read
The luxury crisis? "We don't feel it, for now luxury is holding up". Cariaggi, a company from the Marche region of Italy that manufactures fine yarns for knitwear and is a leader in fibres such as cashmere and vicuña, announces another positive year, albeit with a slightly shrinking turnover. "We will close around 136 million euro against the 140 million realised in 2023 with an ebitda of 13%," explains Piergiorgio Cariaggi, president, managing director and majority shareholder, showing the new spinning machines installed at the headquarters in Cagli (Pesaro-Urbino). "We are very happy," he adds, "because this level of revenues is in line with our production capacity, without the need for chasing and fretting. A capacity that the company now intends to expand.
The entry of two strong partners such as Brunello Cucinelli and Chanel, who acquired a 24.5% share each last year, has helped push investment and diversification. Cariaggi has just built two more factories, bringing Cagli to six buildings, 330 employees and 40,000 square metres dedicated to production, and has launched an industrial plan 2024-2027 that envisages another 40 million in investments between technology and real estate. "We want to increase the production of fine yarns, which today is around 900 thousand kilograms per year," explains the president, "so that we can directly make 70%. The quality produced within the company is not the same as outside". The project to acquire companies in the chain that carry out production stages that are currently missing, in order to control the entire processing cycle, also goes in this direction.
The demand for fine yarns 'pulls' both in Italy - where the large international luxury groups often produce their knitwear lines - and abroad, which today weighs 47% of turnover and is destined to grow. "In recent years, the demand for fine yarns from China has increased and today we are selling well in that country," explains Cariaggi. "Many doors have also opened in Eastern Europe after Chanel's entry into the capital.
In response to the demands of the high-end market, the Marche-based company recently introduced the production of fancy yarns, which now account for 20% of revenues and are flanked by carded and worsted yarns. "We were not experts in fancy yarns," emphasises Cariaggi, "so initially we put our machines in the factory of a subcontractor in Biella. Again we decided to focus on the high-end, with timeless style and fibres such as cashmere and fine wools'.
Next to quality, the other factor that is enabling the company to withstand the downturn affecting a part of luxury fashion is flexibility. The market has changed and customers are increasingly placing small orders of 50 or 100 kilograms. "So having spinning machinery that allows small quantities to be produced is crucial," they explain. To achieve this, Cariaggi designs 'in house' - thanks to Piergiorgio's son Marco - machines that allow them to quickly change a 'batch' of yarn and meet the demands: not only those of Cucinelli and Chanel, who are the first buyers (with 10% and 8% of production), but also those of the other 1,200 customers worldwide.
