Another one bites the dust! Yep, another one of the
factories we’ve worked with has just closed – that’s the second one in just a
few years of working in Italy. And as much as I want to blame the economy, the
Euro, and the industry’s move to China, there is a lot more to it.
Let’s start with the great part of working in Italy. It was
a beautiful day in Tuscany. Lauren and I were driving in circles, lost for
about the 28th time in 3 days. We were searching for a factory
outside of Lucca and were already over an hour late. Not that it really
mattered. We were, after all, meeting some Italians who were not too concerned
about time unless it was lunch time or dinner time. But having some tightly
wound ideas of American timeliness, we were a little stressed.
Until we finally arrived. We were welcomed with open arms by
the mother, then the father, and then the son, who happily showed us around the
factory and had us trying on samples almost immediately. After suffering
through many difficult meetings with potential factories, most of which ended
with the phrase “it is not possible” (insert Italian accent for effect), we
were relieved to find people that actually wanted to work. The son even said
the words “anything is possible”, which was like having us at hello.
This was a true family business. The factory was a small
shop just steps from their villa. There was a farm on site. Everyone in the
family worked in the shop and they took 2 hour lunches daily to eat mom’s
homemade pasta. It was the kind of thing you fantasize about when you decide to
work in Italy. But what made this ‘old world’ factory even better was the fact
that they actually used technology. They would actually take digital photos and
send us emails. They shipped stuff overnight when needed. They even used Skype.
We once took this for granted as former high-tech workers, but after
experiencing many Italian workers that refused to even use voice mail, the idea
of digital photography and email communications was mind blowing. All seemed
right with the world.
And then the cracks started to show. Sometimes they just didn’t
feel like making something, and so they wouldn’t. Or they made changes to our upper
designs because the original design was “too hard.” No explanation, no desire
to try, it was just… too hard. And sometimes they would ship shoes with holes,
damaged parts or stains. It became clear after just a few months of working
together that they were over-promising and under-delivering. Their desire to
stay in business had them taking on too many jobs, charging too little, and
then working too fast and missing details in order to meet deadlines. Quality
was no where near what we had come to expect from Italy, and we decided to part
ways after receiving some poor quality samples.
Italian factories are in bad spot because they are forced to
lower prices in order to compete, which has them taking on too much work and sacrificing
quality. Without high quality, there is really no point in working in Italy.
China can always do it faster and cheaper – but typically not better. Rather than try to compete on
price, I’d like to see Italian manufacturer’s specialize in what they do best:
high quality, small orders, creating unique designs where they can showcase
their craftsmanship.
There will always be a need for the unique and the artistic
in fashion. If you want cheap shoes that everyone is wearing - great, go to
China. They may crank out 20,000 pairs per day that look exactly like the one’s
you just bought, but you’ll save money and serve a basic need for fast fashion.
There’s definitely a time and a place for that. But, if you want something
unique, something artistic and something worn by less than 1000 people in the
world, sometimes less than 250 people? Buy Made in Italy. Even if you can only
afford it once every couple of years, buy that one good pair of Italian- made
shoes that will make you happy every time you pull them out. Wear them with
pride. Wear them and think about a little family in Tuscany nailing in each
individual heel by hand before they take their 2-hour lunch with mom. Repair
them when they wear out and keep them for life. They will cost more, but they
will also last longer and provide more in emotional value than you can ever get
from the knock-off’s that everyone is wearing.
The biggest little city in the world.
