Images of trail maps were framed like paintings and employed to decorate the spaces of the Cariaggi stand at last week's Pitti Filati. The hiking trails were also embroidered on white canvases to symbolise the well-defined paths that fashion designers and yarn manufacturers should follow in future.
The company, based in the Marches region and specialised in cashmere, vicuña and super-fine wools, focused for the Autumn/Winter 2014-15 season on warmth and comfort, luminosity, colour and a sort of intangible finish for all its yarns.
While the weight has been miminised, for the next autumnal season size, volume, softness and smoothness have been highlighted. The palette revolves around aseries of golden hues, and features a selection of natural shades juxtaposed to more modern tones.
New yarns for the next season include "Nuage" (74% cashmere, 26% silk), a specially structured yarn with a brushed finish for multi-layered softness and a plush, slightly frosted surface also available with sequins and lurex; "Bouclé" (93% cashmere, 7% silk), a cashmere bouclé yarn available in 35 different tones; "Wave" (87% cashmere, 13% silk), a yarn produced using a special technique which joins the two fibres together to create unusual printed effects, and "Alps" (54% silk, 36% cashmere, 10% polyamide), a specially treated yarn so that the cashmere fibre is revealed, creating a brushed knitwear effect that enhances the three-dimensional qualities and depth of the colour.
Despite the crisis, Cariaggi is doing well: its first-semester results show a 1% growth in sales as forecast in its budget. Current performance points to a year-end result of some 103 million Euros, an increase of 2% on last year.
Quite interestingly, the markets which recorded the highest growth over the first half of 2013 were the US (+ 6%) and, even more notably, France, with an increase of 16% (a piece of news that confirms the French market is interested in made in Italy luxury).
In order to promote its growth, Cariaggi plans to invest some 1.8 million Euros in 2013 in targeted innovation projects. Tech-wise investment is actually already underway: the company has indeed been focusing on two projects - the Filato Digitale (Digital Yarn) and the eBiz initiative.
The former is developed with Shima Seiki Italia and consists in making digital colour charts available to Cariaggi clients who use the Shima system. The yarn is scanned with an Epson scanner and with the "Proper Gauge" tool developed by Shima Seiki and the software then creates the different colour variations. This process will allow clients to quickly get the requested colour charts.
The European eBiz iniziative, on the other hand, will help optimising the quantity of data exchanged between suppliers and clients to save production planning and programming staff their time and cut in this way organisational costs.
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.