From Palazzo Re Enzo in Bologna “Summer in Italy” launches the new Spring/Summer 2021 trends, an event organized by the greatest European hub for Ready to Wear and Bologna Municipality.

New looks for contemporary generations, updated, exigent, always connected and sustainable. Centergross presents “Summer in Italy”, a tribute to Made in Italy to face both national and international markets with the power of the group, and thru a live streaming show for a 12 brands selection on the social channels and on Centergross.com. From the noble halls of Palazzo Re Enzo, in Bologna city center, Centergross presented the trends for Spring/Summer 2021 season, ideated and produced by the greatest European hub for the market. Here starts the excellence of ready to wear fashion, from the great minds and creativity 100% Made in Italy.
From a real, but virtual at the same time, stage, Irene Colombo, the narrator of the event walk us in an emotional journey to discover the creations by Adriano Langella, Berna, Hamaki-ho, King Kong, Loft1, Paquito, Rinascimento, Sophia Curvy, Souvenir, Susy Mix, Takeshy Kurosawa, Xagon man, along a path designed by the creative mind of Roberto Corbelli, Art Director of the Event and the organization by Riccardo Collina, Phygital Export Manager Centegross. In a set inspired by the ’80, the real models built up a puzzle inside an imaginary window creating a living picture with vintage taste that looks to an actual future, with versatile clothes created by several young talents who choose fresh fabrics, with a particular attention to quality creativity and tech innovation, following an ethical and sustainable production.
Their creations trace well-defined trends that put first the well-being and naturalness of a way of dressing and wearing clothes with which to always feel at ease, skillfully mixing soft shapes with important shoulders and emphasizing the waistline in women and relaxed elegance in man.
Trends for women start from a “Heritage” dimension inspired by the concepts of fidelity to tradition and those important values of handcraft for women who love classic patterns revisited in a modern key, from the college look to classic patterns, from refined prints to sporting references of the 60s / 70s. Colors that know how to ironize and play with contrasts and that go up to a euphoric dimension as it was in the 70s, with colors that mix with classic patterns in a mix that places the palette at the center because desire is strong and urgent to renew oneself, to live even loudly against the almost deafening silence of our days. The colors on the catwalk portray the people of every country who want light, fun, to finally return to life all together.
“The walking man”, on the other hand, is inspired by the rare medicinal herbs and the colors of the Amazonian plants with a focus on sustainability. Quality instead of quantity, a new way of experiencing the city with less travel and less waste, recovering different styles inspired by historical moments that give us security, with a color palette that combines sobriety with the will to live.
“The Centergross catwalk at Palazzo Re Enzo marks an important re-start – states the president, Piero Scandellari -. Made in Italy has never stopped and companies, large or small, keep faith with that pact that imposes quality, style, elegance, beauty on everything that our companies can do. And at Centergross the desire to always be there, in Italy and in the world, has not changed. We continue to be protagonists in this complex global challenge to the pandemic, more united than ever, creating the conditions to work with new means and ways, to guarantee our products and jobs”.
The “Summer in Italy” fashion show integrates platforms and digital environments that interact with hearts and places, giving life to an emotional video in live streaming on Centergross channels to introduce themselves to the world of buyers, professionals, and that large community of fashion lovers eager for news.
Thin is an event that Centergross and the Municipality of Bologna organize with the participating companies, partners and sponsors to restart together despite the persistence of the health emergency and to contribute to affirming the importance of one of the most strategic fashion production districts not only for the Bolognese economy , but for the whole of Italy within the international chessboard of world fashion, the sector landed, due to the pandemic, on the different digital platforms in order to present its collections.
“Summer in Italy” is created by Centergross with the patronage of ITA (Italian Trade Agency), Municipality of Bologna, Bologna Welcome, Confcommercio Imprese per l’Italia – Ascom Metropolitan City of Bologna, CNA Federmoda, Confindustria Emilia Area Centro, Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Crafts and Agriculture of Bologna, with the support of TIM, Intesa SanPaolo, Allianz Bank Financial Advisors – Paolo Delfini Wealth Advisor, FRI (Fashion Research Italy) and the technical partners Bonaveri Italy, Gianfranco hair expression featuring Giannandrea Marongiu, La Truccheria”.
CENTERGROSS, THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE With its new President Piero Scandellari, Centergross established a strategic plan based on a new positioning inside the fashion market, focusing on a new communication and a brand new image able to catch the innovation challenges needed in this context to promote a district of fundamental importance at local, national and international level. Using the images, the brands in the hub will set up a fashion show running thru colored outfits and sophisticated fabrics recalling the 80’s style, the years of the economic boom for fashion industry, that established the rise of prêt- á-porter and the success for Made in Italy.
Centergross, founded 44 years ago in Bologna, nowadays represents the greatest European B2B commercial hub for the ready to wear Italian fashion: the total surface measures 1 million square meters and the exhibition area is of 400 thousand sqm, also 100.000 sqm are dedicated to offices and service areas. The turnover sets around 5 billion euro per year, of which 3,5 are related to fashion and the 60% of the incomes come from the export, thousand of buyers visiting the hub daily (pre-pandemic data), 6.000 direct employees (plus the satellite – activities). A 100% Italian colossus that counts 680 commercial activities at national and international level, of these, about 400 are fashion brands, 98 textile and accessories companies, 94 trade and high technology and over 100 service providers with platforms and digital environments that integrate and interact with real places. A winning formula enclosed in the strength of the group to face internal and external markets and which today, more than ever, confirms the validity of a choice – which seemed visionary four decades ago – but which, precisely in a historical moment as tragic as it is unexpected, it manifests itself in all its relevance and validity.
“Over the past few months I have often had the opportunity to experience first-hand how Bologna is greatly suffering by the effects of the pandemic, but it does not give up – states Matteo Lepore, Councilor for Culture and Promotion of the Municipality of Bologna -. Centergross and the fast fashion sector are one of the driving forces of the local economy. We have been collaborating with Centergross since a long time for initiatives related to fashion, such as the show held in the last two years at the Pincio. I hope that also through this new project the sector of ready to wear fashion could start again “.
Fast production, a distribution that never stops and rapid refurbishments make the ready to wear fashion more and more accessible to several markets becoming a fast-growing sector.
“In such a difficult market, that suffered for sudden openings and closures – stated Piero Scandellari, president of Centergross – the Italian ready to wear fashion system proves not only to find lymph from this situation, but that it can continue to represent and perhaps even increase its share of procurement on the global fashion market. At the end of the lockdown, fast fashion has been able to respond immediately to these “new rhythms” by providing the market, in just a week, with production and news to be sent to stores and shops and respond
to requests for innovative ideas that consumers, exhausted because of the isolation, asked for. The conditions in which, one year after the outbreak of the pandemic, we are still forced to operate, have led the institutions to help us not only by granting us important support such as prestigious locations, but the appreciation and satisfaction of the operations of the Centergross brands. The organization of this event demonstrates that there is interest in continuing to make Bologna and Palazzo Re Renzo a potential center where present annually new Italian ready-to-wear ideas in terms of superior quality of fabrics and style”.
The advantage of the Italian ready to wear system are more than clear: on one hand a winning business model based on the rapid production and distribution that allow a continuous refurbishment of the collections, avoiding stocks and providing savings both for the warehouses and for the capital immobilization and on the other hand, the short supply chain is able to create great fashion trends with affordable prices.