Fashion dresses down

Article Abstract:

Europe's fashion industry is facing extreme difficulties as a recession sweeps every level of the once booming trade. The European fashion market has been weakened by a radical shift in consumer attitudes that has led to extreme price-consciousness on the part of consumers. As a result, Europeans are spending less on clothes and are tending to buy lower-priced items. The recession has exposed the weaknesses of Europe's traditional fashion centers. French fashion houses, though still the acknowledged leaders in creative design, are losing their market share because of a growing inability to adapt their designs to changing market tastes. Italian fashion houses, who have overtaken the French as Europe's most commercially successful, are also under pressure from cost-efficient foreign rivals but are finding it difficult to achieve economies of scale in their artisan-oriented industry.

APPAREL AND OTHER TEXTILE PRODUCTS, Europe, France, Clothing industry, Fashion design, Fashion merchandising

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From bags to riches

Article Abstract:

Italian shopping bag maker Eurobags produces paper and plastic bags for upscale stores. Based in the northern province of Traviso, Eurobags sources 60% of its sales in Italy and exports another 35% to other European countries. The company's acquisition of advanced Japanese bagmaking technology has given it an edge over its European rivals. Eurobags' vertically integrated production structure also enables it to maintain a flexibility that its rivals cannot match. The Italian bagmaker distributes its products to 18 countries and is developing plans to set up a manufacturing base in the US.

Bags: uncoated paper & multiwall, Management, Market share, Shopping bags, Eurobags

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Patronage holds off the dawn

Article Abstract:

Italy's sprawling state sector accounts for around 18% of its GNP and is organized into three giant holding companies: ENI, IRI, and EFIM. The Italian government has announced its intention to transform these state holding companies into joint stock companies as a prelude to eventual privatization. The government has also issued a special law encouraging public banks to float minority stakes. The success of the privatization initiative, however, remains doubtful given an entrenched political patronage system that derives much of its clout from the presence of a large state sector.

Economic policy, Privatization, Privatization (Business), Patronage, Political, Political patronage

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