Italian fashion is no country for young people Everything you need to know about the new competition bill, confirming the growing gap between Italy and France

In Italy, the stories that boomers handed down to us as bedtime tales, shaped by post-war Hollywood strategies, no longer enchant anyone. The creative industry is living proof: you can’t keep living off past glory. We must look ahead, or at least have the courage to stay in the present. Politics, with the latest Competition Bill (DDL Concorrenza) and some demographic data extracted from the recent Milano Global Fashion Summit 2025, will help us understand several critical points.

The Competition Bill will do nothing for Italian fashion

In the textile–apparel sector, many were awaiting the reform of the new Competition Bill, approved by the Senate on November 5, but instead of offering support, the country’s politics once again left fashion on the sidelines. No anti–fast fashion provisions, no concrete measures to protect the supply chain: the sector was excluded from a measure that, at least in theory, should have strengthened Italian competitiveness.

It is clear from the ministry’s website that the focus is removing obstacles to competition in sectors such as transport and healthcare, and strengthening sanctions for cosmetics regarding labelling and compliance. So if legislative gaps and the absurd disinterest in Italy’s artisanal sphere continue, things are no better when it comes to the narrative of Italy abroad and the perception of Made in Italy, between bad news about subcontracting in workshops and underpaid salaries for creatives - in Italy, real wages are still lower than in 2008, according to the International Labour Organization.

France remains one step ahead of Italy

While France taxes fast fashion giants like Shein and Temu (while simultaneously opening a highly questionable mega-store in central Paris), the debate in Italy stalls. The bill includes barely nine articles and introduces no reform for a sector that continues to lose cultural value and institutional recognition. And yet the numbers speak clearly: in 2024, Italy counted over 53,000 fashion businesses, compared to France’s 20,000 in 2025. A high-level manufacturing industry that remains the productive heart of Europe, but which finds no space in everyday discourse, except when discussing abuse of workers and the clandestine workshops scattered across the country.

Returning to how this narrative is instead central to French political strategies, just think of Macron: when Emily in Paris risked becoming Emily in Rome, he publicly intervened to defend the image of French fashion recognizing Paris’s centrality for the industry. Talking about this today is not just an economic issue but a cultural one. Made in Italy is disappearing - not due to lack of talent, but due to an absence of present-day vision and of the sector’s future. Photos and campaigns featuring elderly artisans with glue-stained hands are no longer enough. What’s needed is a generational shift - and a visible shift in perspective.

Where are the young people?

During the latest edition of the Milano Fashion Global Summit, held on October 21 and 22 at the Riccardo Catella Foundation, among the many speakers (from Marco Bizzarri to Renzo Rosso to Carlo Capasa) not a single one was under forty. Of the thirty-eight speakers we analyzed, only ten were women and the average age easily exceeded fifty, once again confirming how the space of Italian fashion continues to resemble a gentlemen’s club more than an actual reflection of the sector.

At the talks and conventions, under-30s and new talents were often mentioned, but they were not given a voice. There was, in any case, a token inclusion, adding influencers or the winner of a contest on the last day to save face - but in practice, the new generations are still not being considered. To introduce a new language and a new vision, Italian fashion needs a generational shift. Even though, with the times being what they are, perhaps talking about the future is a luxury only the old guard can afford. Sooner or later, Italy will understand that culture and image absolutely do feed you - hopefully before everyone escapes to Paris.