The day started early. On the way back to Milan we were visiting three companies. I enjoyed the last breakfast in Grand Hotel, making sure I got my fill not just because of the long day ahead, but because that was the best breakfast out of the three hotels.
The first company we visited was the logistics center of the Verona Fashion Consortium. While there we were given a lecture on what they do in terms of e-commerce, logistics, and customer service and what they envision in terms of the future of e-commerce in Italy. According to a bar graph that they showed us, Italy is one of the lowest in terms of e-commerce usage. They say that that’s not because of a lack of technology, but more so because of the Italian shopping culture. In Italian cities and towns, there are all these nearby shops where you can buy all of the tangible things that you need. What the logistics center seeks to do is not adjust the culture, but rather adapt to it by using technology to provide a better online and offline shopping experience. While at the logistics center we were all given a tour of their warehouse, which looks slightly disorganized, but they know exactly where everything in every inch of that room is.
After our tour of the logistics center, we walked down the street to the tailoring company, where they specifically tailor suits. While there they explained to us how they operate, and we got to watch one of the tailors outline the back of a suit jacket. This was interesting, although I wouldn’t be able to tell that it was the back of a suit jacket had I not been told. We were also given a brief tour of their building which looked extremely disorganized, but we were assured that they knew where stuff was. I think organized chaos is a trend for Italian businesses. After the tour, the tailoring company provided us with some snacks, and they had Pepsi there, which I thought was odd. Based on my experience in Rome, I had come to believe that only three types of name brand sodas existed in Italy: Coke, Sprite, and Fanta (which taste different from the Fanta you know). Although based on my experience on this trip, there is necessarily Sprite, just some sort of lemon soda, but there hasn’t been Pepsi this entire trip.
Once we left the tailoring company we were off to lunch. I had my first tiramisu there. I didn’t think I would like to much because I don’t like coffee, but I tried it because it was put in front of me. I was right. The cream is very good. but I wasn’t a fan of the coffee flavor from the cake.
Our last company visit was at a knitwear factory. The second we walked in we were intrigued by the display. There was a tree-like structure covered with succulents and cards, cut out sheep with wool scarfs in them, mannequins set up on strings on the ceiling. As we started our tour, we saw Gucci everywhere. They said they 80-90% of Gucci knitwear is made there. In addition to all the Gucci, we also got to see the company’s own brand, MF (I forget exactly what that stands for), and everything was reversible and I got to touch some really soft cashmere and I loved it. Our last stop on the tour of the knitwear company was the absolutely huge room where they will be having a knitwear school starting in September. It’s really cool how Italian fashion businesses open up their spaces to new talent. I’m sure the school will be very successful.
We finally got back to Milan early evening. I went to dinner with half of the people on the trip and then tried to write my blog, but realized that I was very tired. Hopefully, that extra sleep will be beneficial for today’s activities.
