Italian eyewear is gearing up for the next edition of Mido, yet the impact of U.S. tariffs is being felt and recovery has been pushed back to 2026, expected to be driven by new markets. As Lorraine Berton, president of the trade association ANFAO, tells FashionNetwork.com , the organisation plans to return to New York with an exhibition format, while she reveals details of DaTe’s upcoming stop in Naples.
ANFAO president Lorraine Berton with vice presidents Nicola Belli, Massimo Barberis, Sabrina Paulon and Davide Degl’Incerti Tocci
FashionNetwork: What will Mido 2026 look like? L.B: The next edition has been brought forward and will run from January 31 to February 2. The date change was not easy, but exhibitors have confirmed their attendance: 1,200 in total, including 140 new companies, from 160 countries. We will introduce many new elements compared with 2025, while maintaining our customary style and elegance. There will be a completely redesigned central piazza and 20 standout events in The Vision Stage area. The exhibition launched in Venice, “The Lens of Time”, will also come to the fair, for which we have devised a striking installation.
FN: What are the economic forecasts for the industry? L.B: We will have the third-quarter data in the second half of December. It has been a challenging year, but conditions are stabilising. The U.S. has hit us hardest: down 20% in the first half, improving to down 15% in the most recent quarter. The shock of the tariffs has now been absorbed, but we will close in negative territory and will have to wait until next year for the upturn. Globally, exports are down 3% in the first nine months, with Europe holding up extremely well, South America growing, and other markets opening up.
FN: How is internationalisation progressing? L.B: We face another transitional spring. As after Covid, I expect a lively rebound. The industry is undergoing a profound phase of transformation that continues to have the Belluno district at its epicentre. It is a difficult time for smaller companies, but we have taken back the reins of internationalisation. We are supporting our companies as they expand beyond Italy. We have also decided to invest in small businesses, because without the small, the large loses its identity.
FN:What countries are you focusing on? L.B: Brazil will be a priority market for the future. Next year we will undertake a mission to the country, which will become increasingly important thanks to the EU-Mercosur agreement. At present we face tariffs of between 14% and 18%. Eliminating them will ease entry into a still complex market, where eyewear that leaves Italy at €50 reaches €100.
FN: What are your plans for New York? L.B: We hope to return to Vision Expo East from 2028, once a year. For now, we remain in Orlando. We are working on it: it is an ambitious project and major investments are at stake. People in the U.S. know that we make the most beautiful eyewear. But we certainly need to communicate more and better. And that is also our responsibility as an association.
FN: Where will the next edition of DaTe be? L.B: Following Riccione (Cocoricò), the fair will stop in Naples, September 12–14, at the Teatro Salone Margherita, in the Galleria Umberto I. The travelling format will continue and will take in the whole of Italy. We are working exceptionally well with ICE. I would like to thank president Zoppas, who is giving us the opportunity to invest in the sector and who believes in my team. He understands that we are serious and that we do not squander resources.
FN: Why invest in the district? L.B: The eyewear district is the Belluno district, but in a broader sense it includes the provinces of Milan, Varese, Reggio Emilia and central Italy. It is a united and resilient district founded on the respect shown by the big players towards the smaller ones. With major players such as Marcolin, Thélios, Safilo and Luxottica, I have a continuous exchange of ideas that makes us all stronger at a difficult time. This is the true strength of the sector, which carries Made in Italy and our manufacturing excellence around the world, globally recognised and rewarding for us.
FN: Upcoming institutional commitments? L.B: ANFAO is attending two industry roundtables: one for the protection of Made in Italy and one at the ministry on protection and counterfeiting. These are commitments we share with the fashion and accessories industry. This coexistence is not straightforward, because it has to take into account the needs of different sectors and production chains, including differing views on the tools to protect product originality and combat counterfeiting.
FN: What is the leadership team working on? L.B: ANFAO has shown it can be close to its members. There is a team of vice presidents doing an extraordinary job. I want to thank Sabrina Paulon, who took my place on the technical committee for the contract renewal. I wanted changes within ANFAO, and I am very happy because today we have staff, both young and more experienced, who have shown they can embrace change with a youthful mindset. Two years have passed, but I believe I can say that we have a team that works in synergy inside and outside the association, and that is the greatest satisfaction for me. We will continue to deliver more and more.
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The world’s largest fashion retailer staged a stock-market comeback this week as Inditex SA’s push to differentiate itself from fierce ultra-low-price competition shows signs of bearing fruit.
Inside a Zara store – Zara
The owner of Zara, Bershka, and Massimo Dutti has seen its shares jump 14%, putting them on track for their best week in five years. Strong third-quarter results, coupled with accelerating November sales, were seen as evidence of the company’s resilience against weaker consumer sentiment.
This week’s surge put the stock on course for an annual gain, after what had previously looked like a lacklustre 2025. Inditex- whose second-largest market is the US- had been punished for its exposure to tariffs and a weaker greenback, amid concerns about softening consumer demand and intensifying competition from Chinese fast-fashion firms.
While its 10% rise this year trails the 50% jump for UK retailer Next Plc and the 19% gain at Sweden’s Hennes & Mauritz AB, Inditex is now outperforming the broader European retail sector. Analysts have welcomed the firm’s push to steer its Zara and Massimo Dutti brands further into the premium segment as it seeks to outmuscle competitors such as Shein and Temu. “The strategy is not to chase ultra-low prices, but to deliver premium-looking products at a good-value price point,” Alphavalue analyst Jie Zhang wrote in a note.
After this week’s rally, Inditex is trading at a substantially higher valuation than peers at 26 times forward earnings- on par with luxury behemoth LVMH. The firm’s strong third-quarter earnings reinforce “the quality of the business and will make investors question whether the right peer group for this company is luxury rather than retail in our view,” said Deutsche Bank AG analyst Adam Cochrane.
Inditex’s latest trading update spurred upward earnings revisions and price target upgrades, with more bullishness among brokers likely to follow, as the current consensus 12-month forward price target doesn’t leave any room for further upside. “These growth levels should provide reassurance of the continued opportunity for outperformance, including into 2026,” said JPMorgan & Chase Co. analyst Georgina Johanan.
A partnership between Agromethod Labs and CITEVE is advancing hydroponic cotton cultivation, a project that could make Portugal the only country in Europe to host the entire cotton value chain, from fibre to clothing.
Agromethod Labs was founded earlier this year with the mission of developing more sustainable, future-oriented agricultural solutions. Its founder, Raquel Maria, a chemist by training with a long track record in academic research, explains that the impetus to create thestart-upstemmed from a personal concern.
“Academia allows us to change the world on a small scale. I felt it was time to bring that knowledge into the real world and have a greater impact on future generations,” she told Portugal Têxtil.
Although Agromethod Labs works across several fields, cotton quickly stood out, building on previous research, notably by researcher Filipe Natálio, currently at the Applied Biomolecular Sciences Unit (UCIBIO) of the School of Science and Technology at Universidade Nova de Lisboa (NOVA FCT). “But we want to continue working on other types of crops and other seeds. Agromethod Labs is bigger than cotton,” she says.
Approaching CITEVE marked a turning point. According to the founder, the hydroponic cotton project “was very much on paper” and required initial investment and a solid technological partner. “CITEVE was decisive. It came along at the right time and finally gave us the opportunity to get started with something that we had already thought about extensively, but which was not yet in a position to move forward,” she says.
The collaboration has made it possible to implement a functional mini pilot, already with measurable results, and to prepare the next phase: a larger-scale pilot that will incorporate vertical farming to maximise the production area.
Advantages and challenges
Hydroponic cultivation offers significant advantages, notes Raquel Maria. “We can grow anywhere in the world, without reliance on sunlight and without geographical limitations,” she explains. It also enables continuous production. “We are no longer limited to a single annual harvest. We can get three or four harvests a year,” she says.
Early results also show improvements in the fibre. “We have obtained cotton with better mechanical properties and greater whiteness, which can reduce some stages in textile processing,” says Raquel Maria.
Even so, the founder of Agromethod Labs recognises that there are challenges, particularly in terms of costs, since this cultivation technique is more expensive. However, incorporating vertical farming in the new pilot could help. “If we double the production area, we can get closer to the economic viability we want,” she believes. Considering the higher costs and added value of the fibre, the raw material produced “in the initial phase will be directed to specialised markets,” she says.
The small-scale production carried out in a room at CITEVE has already made it possible to produce yarn from hydroponic cotton. The next symbolic goal will be “to make a T-shirt and be able to say that it was made with cotton produced in Portugal would be wonderful,” confesses Raquel Maria.
With expansion planned for the next six months, the aim will be to significantly increase production and take an important step closer to the market. According to the founder of Agromethod Labs, the Portuguese textile industry has already started to show enthusiasm. “There have been several expressions of interest. We are completely open to collaborating with Portuguese companies,” she says.
However, the ambition goes beyond fibre production. “Portugal could be the only country in Europe to have the entire value chain- from raw material to end product- in a single territory. That would be a milestone for the country,” concludes Raquel Maria.
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Dancing in the Clouds: the 2026 colour designated by the Pantone Color Institute is Pantone 11-4201 Cloud Dancer: “A neutral shade of white that fosters calm, clarity, and a creative breathing space in a world full of noise.”
Pantone 2026
Pantone’s website crashed as the countdown ended, while the announcement on social media showed a woman dressed in white, gazing dreamily at a cloud-filled sky.
Since 1999, beginning with Cerulean Blue, Pantone’s global experts have been naming the Color of the Year, the shade they believe will become prevalent across fashion, food, design, and entertainment; in 2026, that mantle falls to Cloud Dancer.
Cloud Dancer is a blank canvas on which to begin anew, explained Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute: “An invitation to open new paths and new ways of thinking.”
The mood is clearly one of serenity and an invitation to open new chapters; the election in New York of the young mayor Zohran Mamdani could be an example of this new philosophy. And yet, given the recent political climate in the US under Donald Trump, some, such as New York Times fashion editor Vanessa Friedman, have raised the possibility of MAGA and anti-DEI instrumentalisation, since the white of 2026 has ‘wiped out’ the 2025 colour, Mocha Mousse, a light brown between cappuccino and chocolate.
“Skin tones did not influence this at all,” Laurie Pressman, president of the Pantone Institute, was quick to point out, noting that Pantone has already received similar questions about other recent choices. “With Peach Fuzz in 2024 and then with Mocha Mousse 2025, we were asked whether the choice had anything to do with race or ethnicity. That’s not how it works. We try to understand what people are looking for and which colour can hopefully provide an answer.” And so Pressman invites us to look beyond metaphors: “It’s a softer white,” she said, describing the hue. “It isn’t a pure white, it isn’t a technical white, it isn’t that optically very bright white that, if we think back to the post-Covid period, people were seeking. This is deliberately an unbleached white, a very natural-looking white.”
Meanwhile, the launch of Cloud Dancer has attracted a host of brands eager to keep pace: Hasbro’s Play-Doh has created a tub of Play-Doh in this hue, while Post-it has released pads in the same shade as part of its Neutrality Collection; and the Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel chain will centre its afternoon tea and spa experiences on this minimalist colour. Spotify has also come on board, in its first collaboration with Pantone, creating a multisensory experience that translates “the emotion of colour” into sound through personalised playlists.
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Politics8 years ago