The real costs of made in Italy

Ad Hoc Atelier is a marketplace created to promote and support the best of Made in Italy artisan fashion. We are convinced that Made in Italy has an absolute value in terms of quality and uniqueness, but unfortunately small Italian companies are struggling to adapt to new sales models, with only 12% of brands managing to sell online. Moreover, one of the biggest problems that Made in Italy has to face is the continuous fight against fake Italian products.

A first major obstacle has a legislative matrix. The Italian law does not protect the "real Made in Italy" at all. In fact, it is sufficient for brands to import practically finished products, carry out a couple of very marginal processes in Italy and then be able to apply the desired Made in Italy label.

Italy is famous for quality leather goods, for the creativity of Italian designers and creative directors, and for the historical Italian fashion houses that made Italian luxury appreciated all over the world. But without strong protection this enormous value is diluted.

This practice is extremely harmful for the most authentic brands that really create in Italy, which are penalized by the dilution of the value of Made in Italy.

We at Ad Hoc Atelier are committed to verifying all phases of our brands' production, so as to ensure that we have companies that carry out all their processes in Italy.

A second obstacle for Made in Italy is the exploitation of cheap labor. It is increasingly common to rely on large manufacturing laboratories in Italy, which exploit underpaid and non-compliant workers. In this way, brands can boast of being Made in Italy, while also managing to keep costs to a minimum.

This practice is extremely detrimental to those who are still linked to a quality and sustainable fashion, based on solid values and passion. Therefore, a key role is played by the transparency of the brands, which should always explain their entire supply chain, too often kept hidden from consumers.

Thus, a third obstacle for Made in Italy is the high production costs. The high standard costs and the ease with which it is possible to obtain Made in Italy certification, even by producing abroad, make the practice of relocating crucial production phases abroad increasingly widespread.

Although it is wrong to generalize and take for granted that producing in Italy automatically means creating a quality product, the relocation of production activity decreases the possibility to meticulously control the processes and workings behind the products.

In this short guide, we'll show you what the real costs of clothing manufacturing in Italy are, comparing them to abroad. We hope it will help you recognize which products are actually made in Italy and which are fakes.

We will rely only on objective values and not personal ones. Therefore, we will not refer to the quality of the products, even if it is universally recognized that Italian manufacturing is a real excellence. However, also by virtue of our experience in search of the best brands made in Italy, the quality can vary greatly depending on the manufacturer.

Therefore, it is wrong to say a priori that a Made in Italy product is better than others. Instead, we will show objective and real data, which can not leave biased interpretations. So, how much does labor cost, what are the differences with India, for example? How much do the fixed costs to maintain a production plant active? Here is all the most relevant information