We all know that globalisation definitely had an impact on the fashion industry: many Italian companies that were famous for their "Made in Italy" products started for example manufacturing parts in other countries and then importing and assembling them in Italy; in other cases they outsourced the production to factories based in China, Bangladesh or Turkey or moved their facilities to Eastern Europe to benefit from the advantages of local cheaper workforce.
The Calzedonia Group is among them, but last month it launched a pioneering operation opening its first manufacturing plant in Ethiopia. Called Itaca Textile Plc, the plant is located in Macallè, in the Tigrai region.
The plant employs over 1,000 people (a number that, the group claims, will increase to 1,500 by mid-2019; the idea is to train local people rather than importing the workforce from other countries), 90% of them are women.
All the steps of the production - from cutting, sewing and ironing to quality control - are taken care of in the same plant and the factory mainly produces knitwear, pyjamas and leggings for the group's Calzedonia, Tezenis and Intimissimi labels.
The group guarantees free transportation to its workers and the plant features quite a few facilities, including a free canteen, showers, a medical centre and a nearby well, created to serve all the villages surrounding the factory (each worker will also receive 10 litres of drinking water a week as a bonus).
It is estimated that the factory will export $786,000 worth of garments every month towards Europe, with the goods leaving from the port of Massawa.
While Calzedonia explored the possibility of investing in Africa in 2014, the Itaca Textile project only started in 2016 when the first workers were trained. In the early stages, the project encountered quite a few obstacles, including the lack of a properly developed industrial network and of quality primary resources and specialised workforce, plus issues dealing with logistics and problems linked with banks' operations.
In the course of the last two years the group, headed by Sandro Veronese and directing brands Calzedonia, Tezenis, Intimissimi, Falconeri and Atelier Emé, invested in the new plant over ten million euros.
The project launched by Calzedonia is part of a larger industrial regeneration taking place in the country, Ethiopia went indeed through a rapid transformation in the last few years.
The Ethiopian government has been working on developing industrial areas: Dukem, just outside the capital, is Ethiopia's first industrial park; Hawassa Industrial Park, Africa's largest hub, is 270km south of Addis Ababa. It was built by China Civil Engineering Corporation and produces fabric and clothing for a variety of brands including Levi's, Guess, H&M and American PVH Corp. (the holding controlling the Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein brands). Manufacturing plants located in Hawassa Industrial Park also produce underwear for the American chain Wal-Mart and for Kgg Garment (producing for the American company The Children's Place).
By 2020 the government would like to open further industrial areas (the original plan aimed at 15 industrial parks by June 2018) and new hubs in Aysha, Smerea and Asosa that could strengthen the textile production of the country (by September 2017 Ethiopia already boasted over 100 American, European, Japanese, Ethiopian, Chinese, Indian and Sri Lankan textile factories). The main aim is to offer over 200,000 jobs a year, reducing in this way emigration rates.
So while globalisation is challenging the economy of some countries, it is also offering opportunities in other places (the Calzedonia Group registered an increase of 8,7% in 2017, also thanks to new shops in Spain, France, Russia and Germany, the US, Japan and China, and manufacturing plants in Italy, Sri Lanka, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia). Yet there are pros and cons in this story: the Calzedonia factory was the result of a humanitarian initiative based on social sustainability promoted by the group and their Fondazione San Zeno, that has been developing dedicated social and cultural projects in Italy and abroad from 1999.
But Calzedonia remains a business venture and the reasons why it chose to open in Ethiopia are easy to guess. The group was obviously attracted by a series of tax incentives and the fact that African exports enter the EU free of duty, plus low energy costs and the availability of cheap workforce (workers at the Calzedonia factory get 50 Euro a month, which is a good compensation in a country where a monthly wage can reach around 30 Euro, but it is still a tiny fraction compared to the wages in Italy or even in Eastern Europe, where Calzedonia moved some of its operations, consequently lowering the quality of a few of his products). All these elements naturally allow a business to dramatically reduce its production costs.
Besides, while Ethiopia is changing - last month the country elected its first female President, former diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde - other things will have to be improved for the Calzedonia Group.
So far the "Made in Africa" (or rather "Made in Ethiopia") label has worked out for Calzedonia only when it comes to the manufacturing side of things, but the group adverts do not present any diversity and their campaigns have often revolved around white models, ambassadors and testimonials (among them influencer Chiara Ferragni and actress Julia Roberts). Looks like, after working on creating new pioneering production facilities, the Calzedonia Group may have to reshift the attention on its image and on authentically and increasingly diverse marketing campaigns.
Comments