In Milan, at Superstudio Maxi, the first edition of SAMAB-Fashion Technologies Event will make its debut, a new initiative that will take place from 27 to 29 May 2025 to offer a broad overview of the most advanced technological solutions for fabric processing and garment manufacturing.

The initiative will host around 60 companies divided according to sectors such as design, cutting, CAD/CAM/PLM, sewing, ironing, thermo-adhesive, embroidery and logistics, as well as presenting a program of workshops, conferences and B2B meetings.

Samab is aimed at companies, craftsmen and professionals in the fashion industry such as production managers, façonists, fashion designers, prototypists and logistics and production managers, to name but a few. It will have an experiential format and aims to create synergies between key players in the sector and to promote innovation as a lever to increase the future competitiveness of the Italian fashion supply chain.

The event has been organised by Senaf, with the patronage of associations such as ANTIA (National Association of Professional Fashion System Technicians), Confindustria Moda – Textile and Fashion Federation and IACDE (International Association of Clothing Designers and Executives) and in collaboration with Gruppo Tecniche Nuove and the magazine Technofashion.

The calendar and aims of the event were disclosed during a press conference held today at the headquarters of Confindustria Moda – Federazione Tessile e Moda, the Italian aparel and textile manufacturers’ association. During the meeting, they discussed an analysis of the economic context of the sector and the need for companies to identify new solutions to face global market dynamics.

Attending the conference were Gianfranco Di Natale, general manager of Confindustria Moda – Federazione Tessile e Moda, Chiara Dussini, president of Antia, Andrea Piva, Training and School Relations representative of IACDE Italia, Alberto Gregotti, Representative of the SAMAB steering committee, Ivo Nardella, president of Senaf – Gruppo Tecniche Nuove, and Emilio Bianchi, general manager of Senaf/SAMAB.

“The Italian textile and clothing sector is facing a phase of profound transformation. We are not facing a conjunctural difficult moment, but a systemic one, and therefore much more difficult to change. The reference markets are changing and there is a certain way of approaching luxury and fashion consumption. It is not an easy time,” explained Gianfranco Di Natale, Director General of Confindustria Moda, presenting some data on the sector’s performance.

The textile-clothing industry, which counts 40,000 companies and 380,000 employees, closed 2024 by recording an estimated turnover of €59.8 billion with a loss of around €4 billion compared to 2023.

“Although we have managed to contain the losses in our sector, if we add them to those recorded by the leather goods sector of around €9 billion, the overall sector has recorded a drop in turnover of around €15 billion. It is, therefore, not a simple moment to which companies are trying to react,” he continued, explaining that the drop in demand is forcing Italian companies to rethink strategies and production models, focusing increasingly on innovation, sustainability and digitalisation. 

For this, various players in the sector have decided to found Samab, a strategic appointment for the sector and a platform for comparison on the most advanced technologies.

Since 60% of Italian turnover comes from exports, the involvement of international players is essential. This is why Samab focuses on recalling foreign visitors and the ability to communicate the beauty of Italian Style.

To achieve these goals, it has carried out careful research and invited what it estimates will be 30% of visitors among specialised international buyers from Albania, Egypt, Germany, Portugal, France, Tunisia, Turkey, Poland and Morocco to name but a few.

“We believe that this is a crucial moment in which we need to reflect,” added Emilio Bianchi, general manager of Senaf/Samab, emphasising the importance of the event as a moment of encounter and experience under the banner of Italian Style presented from various points of view–from catering to convivial moments, up to the design of the location realised in collaboration with the School of Design of the Polytechnic–amplifying the scope of an event as only Italian industry insiders can offer.

“As Antia, we strongly wanted to be part of Samab because we believe that the fashion sector needs a place for technical and strategic comparison. The fair is not just a showcase, but an opportunity for companies and professionals to update, contaminate and find new directions. Innovation is not only technology, but also a mentality and the ability to adapt and anticipate change,” said Chiara Dussini, president of Antia.

“We think it is essential to update one’s ‘toolbox’, making the most of the opportunities offered by technological evolution and incentive regulations,” added Alberto Gregotti, Samab steering committee representative.

“This event is not only a networking opportunity, but a concrete space to rediscover and enhance innovation at every stage of production, from fabric to finished product. In this context, I think it is important to promote four fundamental principles for the future of the industry: Relaunch, Rebalance, Research and Resistance,” concluded Gregotti.

“In a context in which reshoring and the valorization of Made in Italy are strategic levers for competitiveness, Italian companies today more than ever need concrete tools to innovate, optimise production processes and invest in the skills of the future,” said Ivo Nardella, president of Tecniche Nuove Group and Senaf, the company organising the event, explaining how Samab wants to provide a concrete support response to players in the sector.

And since the competitiveness of the textile-clothing industry also depends on the ability to train new specialised figures and update the skills of those already working in the sector, there was also the talk on the training of new professional figures to meet the new challenges in the field of production processes and to respond to the most advanced technological demands.

Andrea Piva, spokesman for IACDE, an international association of designers and executives, as well as head of patternmaking at Rick Owens, also addressed this topic.

“The role of IACDE Italy, as part of an international network, is to encourage the connection between professionals, companies and designers, to respond in an agile and innovative way to these changes. We believe in the importance of design innovation and contamination between sectors. Fashion is no longer an isolated world, but is increasingly intertwined with other sectors, such as technology, automotive or furniture. We think that the search for new materials and processing techniques cannot only come from fashion, but also from other fields. These contaminations generate new opportunities and push the supply chain to evolve in a more dynamic way,” he pointed out emphasising the importance to teach tomorrow’s insiders the importance to use technology and learning, while thinking out of the box.

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