MILAN — More uncertainty looms ahead for yarn spinners in 2023, as corporations saw mixed performances resulting from a contraction in consumption — dented by fear of or actual recession — and market volatility.

Around 120 industry operators, 19 of which hail from abroad, are gathering on the three-day textile trade fair Pitti Filati starting Wednesday to unveil their fall 2024 collections, hinged on 3D and fuzzy effects.

Although yarn-makers’ executives consistently noted the truth of subdued growth since 2022, there appears to be cautious optimism in regards to the sector’s resilience, given its high dependance on the posh sector, which, in accordance with the newest Bain & Company’s Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study — Spring 2023, is projected to grow between 5 percent and 12 percent in 2023.

Based on consolidated data, in 2022 the Italian yarn spinning sector registered a turnover of three.24 billion euros, up 24.7 percent in comparison with the previous yr and up 16.9 percent in comparison with sales in 2019, which stood at 2.77 billion euros.

Last yr, exports jumped 17.8 percent to almost 1 billion euros driven by wool, cotton and linen yarns, particularly high-end options, while in the primary three months of 2023 performances were mixed, with exports inching up 4.9 percent and imports decreasing 5.2 percent.

“The market is actually facing big uncertainties linked to geopolitical instability with the war in Ukraine, a slowdown within the U.S. and uneven performances within the Far East,” said Alberto Enoch, chief executive officer of silk spinner Servizi e Seta.

“We’re hoping Greater China will make a comeback ensuring larger volumes and margins for luxury corporations. Needless to say after the euphoria in 2022, the present climate is more uncertain with contrasting information hitting and impacting the market every other day,” he added. The corporate isn’t skimping on investments, though, and plans to rent around 24 recent employees by the tip of 2024, in addition to reshore its production of recycled silk in Italy by 2025.

Lorenzo Piacentini, CEO of the Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia wool mill — which has recently issued its sixth sustainability report on 2022 showing an 11 percent reduction in CO2 emissions and progress in energy efficiency and provide chain traceability — echoed that sentiment, hoping for a rebound in Asia at the tip of the yr that might fuel growth in the posh segment.

The Eastern continent, in addition to the U.S. — the latter viewed as a powerful driver for the sector’s sales uptick last yr — have each slipped out of the list of the highest five exporting countries.

This shift will likely be felt particularly by corporations generating the majority of their revenues via exports, as is the case for Monticolor. Its cofounder and CEO Alberto Conti said despite a 9 percent jump in first-half sales this yr, the volatility of world economies, combined with a decrease in costs for raw materials don’t allow for a forecast of further growth.

To this end, Silvio Botto Poala, CEO of the Botto Giuseppe mill, which has also been experiencing good performance in the primary half with sales fueled by South Korea, France, Italy and the U.S., voiced his concern about how markets will reply to recession, which has hit a couple of countries already and forged a shadow on consumer confidence overall.

Against the unpredictable scenario, speedy services, sustainability credentials and adaptability geared at customization are all factoring in, executives concurred.

Boris Xue, owner and the CEO of Consinee Group, the Ningbo, China-based, $800 million cashmere spinner, highlighted that “the speed of change and personalization [requested] by fashion brands is increasing increasingly more. More colours, orders in small quantities and fast deliveries have grow to be the norm.” He touted the corporate’s recently unveiled AI-powered factory as a contributing factor to satisfy demand, ensuring a 35 percent uptick in first-half sales in comparison with the identical period in 2022.

Largely trading with Europe supplying its premium cashmere fibers to luxury players, Consinee is experiencing an uptick in business toward its domestic market and North America, which “need even faster delivery, more revolutionary and personalized products,” Xue offered.

On a similarly upbeat note was Lincoln Germanetti, president of Tollegno 1900, saying the sector “is reappropriating a more stable condition after years of fluidity.” The corporate, which is now owned by the publicly listed Indorama Ventures firm, experienced brisk business activities in the primary six months of the yr and is busy enhancing its stock services.

Cariaggi’s president and CEO Pier Giorgio Cariaggi sounded optimistic and shared that the corporate registered a ten percent like-for-like sales increase in the primary months of the yr, lifted by a 23 percent jump in exports driven by France, the U.S., the U.K. and South Korea. The manager touted the recent M&A deal that saw Chanel and Brunello Cucinelli each nab a 24.5 percent stake in the corporate eyeing further expansion.

Yarn-makers didn’t pull back on fashion-leaning offerings for fall, hinging on 3D effects courtesy of bouclé spinning techniques and blends exalting the hairy qualities of natural fibers, done in a wealthy wintery palette.

The appetite for textured yarns echoes in Botto Giuseppe’s Cashmere Air fiber and cashmere and bison mix with a vintage effect, in addition to in Monticolor’s Live Sense, an Organic Content Standard-certified bouclé mix of cashmere and organic cotton with a curly surface and mélange effect, a part of the recently launched “Sense of Cashmere” initiative.

Like Cariaggi’s Poodle mix of cashmere, baby alpaca and silk, they cater to luxurious leisurewear, a top of mind category for yarnmakers.

Knitwear remains to be having fun with momentum in fashion. To this end, Loro Piana’s registered Steel Wish, which features two-thirds of wool blended with metal threads to attain an almost-iridescent and crinkled effect suitable for ladies’s 3D knits, ditto for Cariaggi’s Wacky bouclè mix of cashmere and silk that’s spiced up via tiny sequins.

The trend is clear within the Servizi e Seta’s fall collection, too, where the one hundred pc Mulberry silk bouclé Zibellino thread and the Chenille Opacum product are air-brushed to acquire a light-weight yet meaty look. The corporate’s sales of knitwear-leaning threads skyrocketed 70 percent in the primary half.

Within the Zegna Baruffa range the H2Dry family is available in a one hundred pc merino wool version, in addition to in blends with cashmere or organic cotton. Mechanically cleanable and boasting low pilling and easy-care qualities, these knitwear threads mingle with Sherwood, a woolen boucle fiber best suitable for fuzzy and cocooning overcoats.

Overall, the colour palette is two-pronged, banking on light tones spanning from ivory white to sandy beige and richer earth-inspired hues like tan, tangerine, forest green and brown.

At Zegna Baruffa and Tollegno 1900, the first goal is to showcase the flexibility of woolen yarns and their seasonless approach, which the latter stressed by ditching the season in the gathering’s naming.