Alberto Alessi, president of Italian design brand Alessi, recently commented that the country's manufacturing capability is beginning to lose its significance in the industry.
Alessi said in an interview, “The risk is that it disappears. Maybe Italian production will disappear.” Alessi’s comments came from the possibility that Italy’s producers can now be outsourced internationally.
He cited that in the 1970s, the identity of Italian design was based on the fact that Italian designers were working for Italian manufacturers. However, this changed in the 1980s when Italian companies started working with designers from other parts of the globe. Thus, the catalogue of design factories were not inherently Italian any more.
Alessi deems that in time, the second aspect which is Italian production, will soon risk disappearing.
The Italian company Alessi, which was established in 1921, is globally known for kitchen accessories and tableware. The company has collaborated with successful Italian and foreign designers.
This is not the first time though that concerns regarding Italian manufacturing capabilities was questioned. Last year, president of Kartell and Salone del Mobile, Claudio Luti commented that it was a “big, big mistake” for Italian firms to seek and explore investments in foreign markets. With the country’s declining economy and the increasing global competition, design houses in the country are facing a huge dilemma.
Patrizia Moroso of the Italian furniture brand Moroso cited that while the country is in crisis, it’s design capital has still continued to sit “in the past”. Moroso said, “Italy is very much in a crisis because it doesn’t want to change, doesn;t want to move and is becoming very old.” In addition, Moroso thinks that Italy was “losing the culture behind the production”
Last September Patrizia Moroso, head of Italian furniture brand Moroso,said Italy was "in crisis" while Milan was "sitting in the past".
For Alessi, all is not lost, though. He is still hopeful that even if Italian design manufacturing decided to migrate abroad, the notion of “Italian design” will remain because of its uniqueness in their approach with regard to designer-manufacturer collaboration.
