They come, they talk, they compare, they show different degrees of interest, they shake their heads disconsolately. They do not do so because they are disappointed with the product they are evaluating. The reason lies in the geopolitical and trade uncertainty that leaves the American market and its suppliers in a condition that can be summed up as: “I don’t know”. The latest blow is 30% import duties from the European Union. This is the sense of the first rumors from Lineapelle New York, which today celebrates its second and final day.
First rumours from New York
Among the stands at the Metropolitan Pavilion, the first rumours are all of the same tenor. They oscillate between the knowledge that the collections are likable and create interest (as shown by the turnout for the fashion trend presentations by the Lineapelle Fashion Committee). They even suggest sampling hypotheses. But then they crash against the systemic impossibility of planning that dominates this economic phase. Long, depressed and subject to “an uncertainty that has never been seen before,” they tell us from the stand of a Tuscan tannery. ‘We have always been aware that, for our articles, the problem to be faced in the American market is the price. Now, however, it is no longer a problem: it risks becoming a wall’.
“I don’t know”
Here it is: the possible entry into force on the 1st of August of Trump’s duties on the import from EU is throwing those who “already see the dollar’s weakness against the euro as a kind of currency duty” into despondency. Negative factors are adding up, multiplying and, as some suppliers explain, affecting fashion and luxury suppliers, directly and indirectly. In other words: the duties not only affect the exports to the USA, but also – perhaps and above all – those to the countries where American customers produce and from where, of necessity, they will have to ship the finished product back home. ‘The absolute uncertainty of customers also stems from here’. Without forgetting “that every morning you could wake up to news that overturns decisions made the day before”.
The satisfaction front
Amidst so much uncertainty, however, there are also those who end the first day of Lineapelle New York in a state of substantial satisfaction. “We did not discuss duties or anything else,’ says Andrea Calistri of Sapaf, one of the two leather goods manufacturers present at the fair (the other is Tivoli). We established interesting contacts right from the first hours’. Could this be a good sign? Undoubtedly. What it will lead to, however, is yet to be seen. And here we return to the starting “I don’t know”.
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