Today, we roadtripped to Milan from Verona, stopping at three different companies along the way.
Our first stop was Grupo Sinergia, a group that oversees logistics for their clients. These logistics can range from only managing the interface of a customer’s website to actually fulfilling shipping orders and warehousing merchandise. While some of their clients use specific automation for different tasks, nearly every order is fulfilled by hand. As a result of their meticulous attention to detail, Grupo Sinergia has not lost a client in 10 years. They have several warehouses for processing orders and holding stock (and even a bunker that holds luxury goods!), and we visited one of their warehouses that is used to fulfill small consumer orders.
This warehouse holds a lot of shoes and apparel for brands like Macron. 
Next door to Grupo Sinergia was our next company visit, which was the small-scale factory of Sartoria Cavour. Sartoria Cavour produces high-end jackets, suits and outerwear for private clients and large companies. Ralph Lauren and Burberry are two of the companies who source a lot of tailor work to them. Clients can even be tailored for made-to-order suits, using top of the line fabrics such as fine silks or bamboo fabric, which is becoming increasingly popular in Europe due to its wicking, durability and softness.
The company owner was kind enough to show us around the factory and let us touch some bamboo fabrics, which are getting very popular in the European market. 
Frank got fitted for a suit!
Our final visit was with Mario Faroni at his knitwear company, MF1. MF1 is a luxury knitwear factory that takes on jobs from high fashion companies and clients such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and individuals like Madonna. While we were there, we got to see the upcoming season of Gucci knitwear apparel being produced!
We could not take any photos in the factory, as they were in top secret production, but we all got to take a picture with Mario Faroni and his wife 🙂
Mario Faroni has opened a fashion academy as of last year, to train new young designers and teach them to design and create their own apparel and how to design for others, which was interesting to see as well. We got to talk to one of the students who were working on a collection for an upcoming show!
All of the companies were very gracious to allow us to see their processes, and we were delighted to learn about the different production processes. I learned a lot, and I was surprised by how much I thoroughly enjoyed it and by how much I learned about the process that clothing goes through from start to finish!
Unfortunately, today was our last day of company visits and activities. Tomorrow, we’ll be packing and getting ready to leave early on Saturday morning, and enjoying a group lunch together. I’m looking forward to enjoying a few more days in Italy, but even more so to see my friends and family to tell them about my amazing experience!
We stopped to take some beautiful pictures at the ruins of castle fortifications in the countryside around Milan!