Italy is to shoes as Switzerland is to watches, synonymous with high-end luxury and superlative craftsmanship. Brands like Prada, Armani, Gucci and Bruno Magli have something beyond mere authenticity: they enjoy a unique, Italian resonance that crosses cultures.
But production of high-end footwear is expensive. Other then sewing machines, no technology exists that can help workers generate high production runs of leather shoes. Further, production of the average shoe involves from forty to a few hundred stages.
Italy was the world’s largest exporter of shoes in all product ranges, until the 1980s when its position was overtaken by China and Hong Kong, which specialize in making products that require cheap labor. Asia holds about two-thirds of the world’s footwear market, while Western Europe has only ten percent.
Ironically, among EU countries, Italy is the biggest importer of shoes and shoe components from Eastern Europe. In 2001, Italy imported 41 percent of its leather footwear components, of which nearly 72 percent came not from Asia but from Eastern Europe, particularly Romania, thanks to regional agreements that allow easy access to the Common Market for these developing producers.
What this means is that the shoes you bought, which say “made in Italy” on the sole, may very well in fact have been made in Romania and marketed and sold under an Italian brand. It’s one thing when your sneakers come from a developing country, but those who shell out top dollar for a pair of expensive Italian shoes may balk upon learning that they probably were not made in Italy at all.
Eros Scattolin, international public relations executive, faces this situation at Geox, a shoe brand headquartered in the Italian province of Treviso. Founded in 1995, the company now sells to 51 countries and boasts a turnover of €181 million (US$211M). Although Geox considers itself an Italian brand, it depends heavily on outside countries to make its shoes. For instance the company owns a plant in the Romanian city of Timisoara, which employs 2,000 locals to work under the direct supervision of 50 Italian masters.
Says Scattolin, “From our point of view, it doesn't matter where you produce, but how you do it. We could keep on producing our shoes in Italy but they should cost much more.” Instead, while a small segment of Geox’s production is in fact still in Italy, the company works in “Romania, Slovakia, Mexico and China as well.”
Scattolin believes that in spite of the sentimentality that people might attach to shoes made in Italy, outsourcing was the way of the future for the Italian shoe industry. “Outsourcing is a must, not a choice,” he insists. “You have to go abroad in those low labor market cost countries if you want to keep a fair price, and I would add, if you want to survive.” He claims that outsourcing to cheaper locations does not challenge the integrity of the company itself, which keeps all logistics, marketing and financial departments in Italy, so that “the brain and soul (of Geox]) is Italian, (while) the body is foreign.”
And they call themselves part of the luxury market?
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dont forget , i'm making a living out of 'seeing the future' softie 
, what were you doing whilst you were "engaged"
