The Italian textile and clothing industry is unique, lively, innovative, and leader in the world.
Its innovation ability represents its main and most lasting competitive advantage.
The "mission" of the Italian fashion system lies in offering original, and very distinctive
products, which meanwhile answer to consumer's taste and meet his needs. This also
implies a continuous improvement in technical performances of fibres, yarns, fabrics, and
finishing.

The success of the whole chain - from the first processes on fibres to fabrics, finishing
operations, and final products for the market - is favoured by the interaction of a
sophisticated manufacturing network, where the strength of each element is at the same time
a condition and a function of the vitality of the whole system.

This dynamic combination of productive, creative, and managing activities involves about
67,500 industrial companies with large, medium, and even very small scale operations. This
unique mix still turns out to be the main point of strength of Italian TIC industry, whose about
540,000 employees contribute to roughly 10% of the manufacturing sector's added value.
The strong export trend of the TIC industry is shown by the turnover share totalized abroad,
amounting to 62% of total sales. The significant flow of exports ensures a foreign trade
surplus of about 12 billion Euros, which compensate, to a large extent, the country's deficit in
energy and agriculture.

Besides the value which can be measured in figures, Italian fashion, strongly founded on T/C,
has enormously contributed to the definition of the ideas of Italian "good taste" and "life
qtlality", with positive effect= on Italian products all over the world,

Source: SMI-ATI the Italian Textile and Fasion Industry Federation