Pitti Filati, innovation and investments in company strategies

The Italian knitting yarn industry, gathered at the Pitti Filati show in Florence (1-3 July), is looking for ways to get out of the market impasse that has been putting companies' balance sheets to the test for several seasons now. The Ethica Global Investments fund, which in 2020 acquired the Prato-based Lanificio dell'Olivo and in 2022 the Novara-based Manifattura Sesia , last March made a hat-trick by acquiring the Biella-based Servizi e Seta , specialized in pure silk yarns and blends with noble fibers.

At the helm of the group named Filidarte , which now has 180 employees and 66 million in aggregate turnover in 2024 with EBITDA at 10%, since April 1st there is Alberto Enoch, former CEO of Servizi e Seta, who explains: «We want to create synergies, and for this reason we have started 14 working tables on the various operational areas to integrate organization and production, while maintaining the different corporate identities. The goal is to reach 90 million euros in revenues within three to four years and improve margins by bringing EBITDA to 15%. To do this today it is essential to provide good customer service». Filidarte is already aiming to grow this year, even if the market is not shining.

In Prato, in particular, specialization in fancy yarns is penalizing companies: "2025 is a difficult year - explain Pierluigi Marrani and Roberta Pecci of the Pecci Filati group, 24 million in turnover expected in 2025 (-6%) - in which those who are financially well off will hold out. Prato is suffering from the difficulties of the fancy yarn market, which are more recognizable and therefore less chosen in times of crisis because customers do not want to risk having products that they cannot re-propose on the shelves".

The installation “Le parole del filo” by Felice Limosani for Lineapiù's 50th anniversary

Try to distance yourself from the turbulence by celebrating 50 years of innovation and creativity Lineapiù , a company founded in 1975 by Giuliano Coppini in Capalle (Campi Bisenzio, Florence), since 2010 in the hands of Alessandro Bastagli: «Celebrating 50 years of history – he says – means reflecting on the roots but above all relaunching a vision: we work every day to innovate in the name of quality, excellence and a creativity that can speak to the world».

Focusing on accessible but still chic luxury interpreted by alpaca, Filpucci of the Gualtieri family: «We want to tell our vision of the future of fashion – explains Federico Gualtieri – with certified yarns, to guarantee the production chain and social and environmental responsibility, and with yarns designed to last. Today a high-quality product must contain all these elements and our customers are following us on this path».