How the return of traditional skills is boosting Italy's economy
Artisan revival proves a boon for
sluggish economy that has unemployment rate of 12%
A marketing campaign has reignited interest in artisan
careers. Photograph: FabioBalbi/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Angela Giuffrida in Penne
Saturday 1 April 2017 14.58 BST Last modified on Saturday 1
April 2017 15.53 BST
There aren’t any smartphones distracting the budding
couturiers at the tailoring school run by Brioni, the venerable menswear
company, in Penne, a medieval town nestled in the heart of Italy’s mountainous
Abruzzo region.
Instead, their nimble fingers are delicately sewing stitches
on to jacket sleeves. They are nurturing the skills that could lead to a job in
a fashion house whose sleek suits have been worn by kings, presidents and 007s
Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig in their roles as James Bond.
The teenagers are the lucky group of 16 to have made the cut
for the latest four-year programme at Brioni’s Scuola Di Alta Sartoria (High
School of Tailoring), which in recent years has seen an uptick in applications
from young Italians keen to learn the trade.
They are among a generation in Italy who are turning to
industries that formed the backbone of the country’s post-world war two
economy, with some skipping university in the process, amid a lacklustre job
market.
“They join aged 13 or 14,” said Emidio Fonticoli, the
school’s coordinator. “It’s important that they start young, due to the
sensitivity of their hands and fingers. It’s an important time for them to
develop manual skills, so much so they reach such a level of tactility, they
can work without looking.”
But it’s not all blazers, belt loops and buttonholes: the
aspiring tailors study maths, English and history as part of a combined school
curriculum also aimed at readying them for the world of work in case they
decide not to pursue tailoring.
Upon completion, the best are selected to work in the local
factory, or in one of the company’s boutiques around the world. The most
passionate ones succeed.
Italians are rediscovering their entrepreneurial spirit.
Photograph: seraficus/Getty Images
“The artisanal tradition is a cultural legacy that takes
decades to transmit from a seasoned master to a young talent and despite common
thoughts, a large number of young people continue to express their desire and
will to learn the secrets of those crafts,” added Fonticoli.
Concerned about its ageing needle workers, Brioni opened the
tailoring school in 1985 to ensure their skills were passed on. But it is not
the only firm helping to revive the image of the traditional artisan, thus
piquing the interest of young Italians.
“Working with your hands is becoming interesting,” Stefano
Micelli, a professor at Venice’s Ca’ Foscari university and author of the book
Future Craftsman, said, pointing to the allure of the “Made in Italy” brand and
advertising campaigns by the likes of the fashion house Pucci and Brunello
Cucinelli, famous for its cashmere jumpers, promoting a fresh image of the
artisan.
“This [the advertising campaign] made a very important
impact on a new generation who are thinking about craftsmanship in a different
way.”
The revival has also filtered down to small businesses, with
Italians rediscovering their entrepreneurial spirit, whether it be in
shoe-making, hairdressing, tailoring or making pasta.
“This is a very Italian thing, we do have this long
tradition in the small business area, it’s part of our culture,” added Micelli.
New technology and a push by regional and local level
governments to help facilitate the growth of startups, particularly in the
business hub of Milan, are also playing their part.
“The policies that are relevant to this new way of doing
business don’t necessarily belong to the state government, but rather the local
and regional municipalities,” said Micelli. “But I would stress that it’s not
about being nostalgic and going back to the past, it’s about the future,
technology, and being innovative.”
Driven both by curiosity and the need to find a job in a
country where youth unemployment has almost doubled to 37.9% within the last 10
years, Federico Badia is an example of someone who set out to learn the secrets
of his craft – but without the help of an esteemed school.
The 29-year-old shoemaker, who owns a shop in Orvieto, a
hilltop town in Umbria, didn’t go to university and instead travelled across
Italy in his early 20s looking for an apprenticeship.
He developed a passion for the craft while working for a
cobbler in his teens, after stumbling across a pair of shoes that a customer
had left for repair 38 years before.
The shop closed after the cobbler retired, and so he set out
on a journey that took him to Turin, Florence and Milan in search of a master.
Earning his keep by waiting on tables, he was rejected by all until he walked
into a shoemaker’s shop in Rome and offered to work for free in exchange for
being taught.
“By the time I got to Rome, I realised that I didn’t need a
job, I needed to learn,” he said. “I worked for free for almost two years.
Spending money on going to a school or university is easy but if you’re really
passionate, you will find a way.”
Italy has one of the most sluggish economies in the European
Union, with the overall unemployment rate standing at 11.7% in January, figures
from Istat, the national statistics agency, showed.
But there are some signs of recovery among small artisanal
businesses, with hiring among them rising 2.3% in 2016, according to data from
CNA, the national confederation of artisans and small businesses.
Claudio Giovine, a chief economist at CNA, said this is
partly due to the economy in general performing mildly better and firms having
more flexibility with work contracts.
There has been a trend among school leavers veering towards
traditional trades, but also among graduates striking out alone, he added.
“They are starting to rediscover the sartorial value in
products, providing something custom-made, as well as the importance of Italy,
which is at the forefront of things that are well made.”
Badia, who now sells shoes from upwards of €1,000, learnt
from his shoe master that the most important requirement of an artisan was to
be humble, which is also part of the Brioni tailoring school philosophy.
“Then, if you become a great artisan, it doesn’t matter
where the shop is, if you’re humble and make a good product, the customers will
come.”
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