The Italian apparel industry has a well-established reputation for premium fashion products. The apparel and the textile industry, in Italy plays an important role in the country’s GDP and export earnings. The sector employs over 4, 10,000 workers in just over 50,000 apparel companies spread across the country. More than half of its sales in 2015 were generated from international markets.

As one of the top 10 export categories in Italy, apparel made up nearly four per cent of the total annual exports. The US, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, and Russia are some of the largest exporting destinations for Italian apparel products. Women’s wear is the largest segment in the apparel industry and growing by 2.3 per cent year on year. In comparison, men’s wear is increasing at 0.9 per cent.

The country plans to promote its fashion and apparel industry as well as fashion exports globally. Their plans include funding trade shows and multichannel marketing and distribution, expanding Made in Italy brands into more department stores and e-commerce platforms around the world. The total value of Italy’s apparel market was estimated at $36.6 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach $42 billion by 2020.