Pitti Filati, innovation and investment in companies' strategies
From Cariaggi to Pecci to Lineapiù, the voices of companies that are facing the difficult economic situation with confidence
3' min read
3' min read
The Italian knitting yarn industry, gathered at the Pitti Filati exhibition in Florence (1-3 July), is looking for ways out of the market impasse that has been severely straining companies' balance sheets for several seasons now. The Ethica Global Investments fund, which in 2020 had acquired the Prato-based Lanificio dell'Olivo and in 2022 the Novara-based Manifattura Sesia, last March made it a trio by acquiring the Biella-based Servizi e Seta, specialised in pure silk yarns and blends with noble fibres.
At the helm of the group christened Filidarte, which now has 180 employees and an aggregate 2024 turnover of 66 million with ebitda at 10%, since 1 April there has been Alberto Enoch, former managing director of Servizi and Seta, who explains: "We want to create synergies, and for this reason we have started 14 work tables on the various operational areas to integrate organisation and production, while maintaining the different corporate identities. The goal is to reach EUR 90 million in revenues within three to four years and to improve margins by raising ebitda to 15%. To do this today it is essential to give good customer service'. Already this year Filidarte aims to grow, even if the market does not shine.
In Prato, in particular, the specialisation in fancy yarns is penalising the companies: '2025 is a difficult year,' explain Pierluigi Marrani and Roberta Pecci of the Pecci Filati group, 24 million turnover expected in 2025 (-6%), 'in which those who are well placed from the financial point of view will hold out. Prato is suffering the market difficulties of fancy yarns, which are more recognisable and therefore less chosen in times of crisis because customers do not want to risk having products they cannot put back on the shelves'.
He tries to ward off the turbulence by celebrating 50 years of innovation and creativity Lineapiù, a company founded in 1975 by Giuliano Coppini in Capalle (Campi Bisenzio, Florence), since 2010 in the hands of Alessandro Bastagli: "Celebrating 50 years of history," he says, "means reflecting on our roots but above all relaunching a vision: we work every day to innovate in the name of quality, excellence and a creativity that knows how to speak to the world.
The Gualtieri family's Filpucci focuses on accessible but still chic luxury interpreted by alpaca: 'We want to tell our vision of the future of fashion,' explains Federico Gualtieri, 'with certified yarns, to guarantee the production chain and social and environmental responsibility, and with yarns that are meant to last. Today a high quality product must contain all these elements and our customers are following us on this path'.
