Despite global uncertainty, numbers confirm that the turnover of Italy's women’s wear is on the upswing. Companies in the sector including apparel and outer wear, shirts and leather goods ended last year on a happy note with revenue of €12.8 billion, up 2.5 per cent compared to the 1.4 per cent growth registered by men’s wear.

These figures were issued by Istat in the course of the presentation of the eighth annual Super Salon organised by Pitti Immagine at Milan during the pret-à-porter show. Revenue of women's wear accounted for 24.4 per cent of the entire turnover of the textile and fashion industry. This can be considered as one of the feathers in the cap of the country’s textile manufacturing industry.

Meanwhile Italy’s domestic demand has been gradually falling. It was 2.9 per cent in 2015 though a bit above the 2014 level. But foreign markets are encouraging the sector. Last year, exports rose 5 per cent in value surpassing €7.7 billion. Exports account for 60.4 per cent of revenue in the sector and are generating a trade surplus of more than €3.4 billion. 

This year started significantly on a number of fronts but for women's fashion, Made in Italy was edged out at least in terms of exports. The dip is due to a slowdown in the U.S. which fell 1.4 per cent in the first six months of the year while disappointing results came from Japan (-1.2 per cent) and South Korea (-2 per cent).