Pattern is marking its 25th anniversary with a new headquarters on the outskirts of Turin.
“We are the engineers of fashion,” said CEO Luca Sburlati, during the inauguration of the building in Collegno, spanning 5,000 square metres of production and office space.
The inauguration of the new Pattern HQ
The €15 million investment was funded through the sale of Pattern’s former factory, also located in Collegno, the majority of which was sold to Burberry.
Since late August, 130 people have been working at the new facility, combining craft expertise with cutting-edge technology. Headcount is already set to rise, with 30 new hires on the way who will be employed in the remaining portion of the former plant, which will be dedicated to ultra high-end production. “The Ferraris of apparel,” Sburlati pointed out.
“We were a micro-SME a few years ago with a few million in turnover. With courageous choices, we became a large company without taking on debt. We have to defend Made in Italy, which is under attack, with our example of Italian artisanal excellence. We are investing in skills. In the coming years, no humanoid robot will be able to sew a garment,” said Pattern’s CEO.
Today, the Turin-based company is targeting €140 million in turnover with its strategic plan through 2028, which also includes entering new product categories. Analysts forecast 2025 to end at €110 million in turnover with a positive EBITDA.
The façade of the new HQ
Pattern—English for the Italian cartamodello (pattern)—was founded by pattern makers Franco Martorella and Fulvio Botto, formerly of Gruppo Finanziario Tessile (GFT), with long careers alongside major designers such as Valentino, Armani, Versace, Calvin Klein and Alexander McQueen.
Pattern’s rise—listed in Milan since 2019—recalls a Savoy-style ‘campaign of annexation’.
“We were about 40 people in 2011. Then we invested in other companies, from knitwear in Emilia to leather goods, to Roscini’s pattern-making, and again in luxury knitwear in Umbria. Through to the tech hub in Abruzzo and Puglia. Small is no longer so beautiful,” noted Sburlati, who has led the company since 2012.
The new HQ is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the engineering of fashion.
“Alongside traditional paper patterns, we use 3D CAD and augmented reality. Brands bring us a design that we turn into both a virtual and a physical prototype. The brief also includes fit and the associated fabric. The pattern then goes to the tailoring department, which sews the garment that, after adjustments, will become a sample or a runway look. The average lead time is one week,” Sburlati explained.
The tailoring section
The building is completely green, powered by heat exchange with the groundwater below and by a conventional photovoltaic system. Even the construction materials are reused.
“We aim to achieve LEED Gold. There are only a few dozen companies with this certification nationwide,” the CEO noted.
The group employs 800 people across its partner companies, rising to about 2,000 including the wider supply chain. Also in the pipeline is a new 1,000-square-metre garment factory in Puglia with around 100 planned hires.
Elena Lorenzini, deputy chief of staff to the minister for made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, was also present at the factory opening.
“It is companies like Pattern that represent the values of Made in Italy around the world. The ministry supports the fashion sector by sending a clear political signal of attention and support. I will invite Pattern’s founders to Rome to work together on new regulations for the future of the sector,” said Urso.
This article is an automatic translation. Click here to read the original article.
Kering has launched Kering Craft in China, an innovative program to support fledgling local talent, developed in tandem with Shanghai’s key designer council.
From left to right: Mr. Li Guoqing, Deputy Director of China International Import Expo Bureau; Mr. Liu Wei, Level-II Inspector of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce; Mr. Nicolas Forissier, French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness; Mr. Luca de Meo, Chief Executive Officer, Kering; Mr. Ji Shengjun, Director of the Shanghai Fashion Week Organizing Committee – Kering
The Kering CRAFT program’s goal is to identify promising Chinese designers hand-picked by an international jury of industry leaders and experts, in collaboration with the Shanghai Fashion Designers Association. CRAFT stands for Creative Residency for Artisanship, Fashion and Technology.
Selected talents will be chosen to participate in a cross-continental residency program spanning Milan, Paris, and Shanghai, curated by Kering. An immersive experience combining artisanship, design, and business insights, encouraging dialogue around creativity, craftsmanship, and the future of luxury, the Paris-based luxury conglomerate announced in a release.
The program is designed to empower Chinese designers to build strong brand and business capabilities, fostering the emergence of “glocal” brands. Meaning local Chinese houses with the potential to scale globally and create synergies with Kering’s Houses.
“China is one of the world’s most dynamic innovation hubs, impressing with its remarkable creativity and speed. This vibrant creative energy perfectly aligns with Kering’s vision,” said Luca de Meo, CEO of Kering.
“As we partner with Shanghai Fashion Week in this groundbreaking initiative, we are honoured to play an active role in fostering international exchange in business, culture and innovation,” added de Meo, who joined Kering in June this year.
As the world’s second largest luxury group, Kering controls six powerhouse runway brands: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen, and Brioni, as well as Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo, Qeelin, and Ginori 1735.
Kering announced the new initiative during the unveiling ceremony of the Kering Pavilion at the 8th China International Import Expo (CIIE), marking a significant step in the group’s deepening engagement with China’s fashion and creative industries.
“Guided by the philosophy of ‘integration of local and international visions’, we are proud to collaborate with Kering to nurture emerging talent in China’s fashion and creative industries,” said Ji Shengjun, Director of Shanghai Fashion Week Organizing Committee. “Together, we aim to build a platform that empowers local designers to engage globally, spark creativity, and strengthen brand-building capabilities- expanding the fashion ecosystem.”
In the past two decades, Shanghai Fashion Week has evolved from a small runway showcase to become the leading fashion week in Asia.
Kering has an estimated 6,000 staff members and more than 400 stores- almost a quarter of its global retail network- across 40 Chinese cities. Half of Kering’s stores in China were opened during the past decade. Among Kering’s top 10 cities in terms of global sales, five are located in China.
Barcelona-based fashion giant Mango reaffirms its commitment to sustainability. The business has announced a collaboration with TextileGenesis, the leading traceability platform for the textile and fashion industry, to guarantee the traceability of its natural, synthetic, and cellulosic fibres, as well as leather, from source to finished product. The alliance will enable the company to ensure a transparent and digitised value chain.
Barcelona-based Mango has announced an alliance with the traceability platform TextileGenesis. – Mango
“Achieving this level of transparency poses a significant challenge for brands like Mango, due to the complexity of their global supply chains,” explained TextileGenesis CEO Amit Gautam, stressing that the platform “makes it possible to provide verifiable, detailed information at every stage of production, helping the company to meet its sustainability goals.”
Through this new partnership, Mango aims to strengthen its commitment to circularity, addressing challenges associated with tighter regulation and rising consumer expectations regarding sustainability and ethical practices. Since an initial pilot launched in 2023, the collaboration with the Dutch platform has enabled the Barcelona-based company to digitally map more than 6,000 tonnes of sustainable fibres and 40 million finished products, involving over 1,000 supply chain stakeholders across 23 countries.
Founded in 1984 by Isak Andic, the Catalan company operates in more than 120 markets through a retail network of over 2,800 stores. In the first half of the current financial year, Mango posted turnover of €1.728 billion, up 12% on the previous year. Looking ahead, the company expects to end 2026 with €4 billion in sales and 500 additional points of sale, both domestically and internationally.
This article is an automatic translation. Click here to read the original article.
Mall giant Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has won two awards at the European retail real estate show MAPIC, held annually in Cannes, France.
Westfield
Westfield London was named ‘Most Influential Retail Property Project’ of the past 30 years, and was joined by Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier which won ‘Best Urban Regeneration Project’.
The operator noted Westfield London is Europe’s largest shopping/dining/entertainment destination, combining more than 460 stores and “has been a catalyst for more than £8 billion of inward investment to the local area and attracted more than half a billion visitors since its opening, generating around £18 billion in sales and thousands of jobs for the local community”.
Anne-Sophie Sancerre, Chief Customer and Retail Officer, URW, said: “These two awards are a powerful celebration of URW’s dedication to the incredible customer experience we create at our destinations, and the impact we have in the communities we serve.
“From pioneering first to market retailers, local heroes and the best flagship outposts of major brands, Westfield centres are a unique combination of the best of the retail industry.
“That retail curation paired with immersive experiences and activations, exceptional customer services and our commitment to creating sustainable places, continues to shape the future of our industry while allowing us to grow our platform of Westfield-branded destinations in the world’s most dynamic cities.”