Economy – The success of the made in Italy brand has generated a few stories in the foreign press this week. According to the Financial Times Gucci is one such case, now achieving stellar sales thanks to the efforts of the brand’s artistic director, Alessandro Michele (October – Gucci fashions its reinvention in style*). Reuters, on the other hand, wrote about Piaggio and its increased profits in the first three quarters of this year (October 28 – Piaggio 9-month core profit rises 4.3 percent to 141.5 mln euros). Other news explained how the new CEO of the Ferrero Group, Giovanni Ferrero is determined that the very Italian Nutella is out to challenge and compete with the very American peanut butter in its own back yard (Handelsblatt, November 2 – Das süße Geheimnis des Nutella-Chefs).
Leading Figures – This week has seen stories about several Italian celebrities in the world’s papers. The author of “some of the most compelling novels” to be written in the last 25 years, Elena Ferrante, that comes hot on the heels of some considerable speculation about her identity, was the subject of some pieces with her latest book, “Frantumaglia – A Writer’s Journey” (New York Times, October 31 – Elena Ferrante: Hiding in Plain Sight; Financial Times, October 27 – Lucy Kellaway on how Elena Ferrante gave the game away*). Vittorio de Sica, and one the films he directed, “il Boom”, was remembered in a story in Le Monde (November 3 – « Il Boom » selon Vittorio De Sica : mirage à l’italienne), whilst, from the world of sport, it was the highly successful agent, Mino Raiola, who has represented soccer superstars such as Pogba and Ibraimovic, who featured in an extensive interview (Financial Times, October 28 – Mino Raiola: meet the super-agent behind Pogba and Ibrahimovic*).
Tourism – Die Welt noted that, according to the Lonely Planet guides, Venice is one of the world’s top five holiday destinations (October 31 – Die besten Reiseziele 2017, die ihr Geld wirklich wert sind). However, for le Monde, it was Staglieno and its funerary monuments that was included in a piece about 8 cemeteries worth visiting (October 23 – Huit cimetières qui valent le voyage*). A medieval-style villa in Florence featured in the luxury real estate listed in the Wall Street Journal (October 31- A Grand Italian Villa Near Florence*) and the New York Times was also in the Tuscan capital to mark the 60th anniversary of the severe floods it was subjected to in 1966 and the saving of Giorgio Vasari’s Last Supper (November 3- After the Florence Flood: Saving Vasari’s ‘Last Supper’).
Food & Wine – A few Italian wines were included in those that, according to the Washington Post, help keep the cold at bay (October 29 – Wines to warm up with as the temperatures drop*) and the paper also ran a story about “Grapetionary” the new dictionary produced by the Italian-American sommelier Jason Tesauro (October 29 – From aglianico to zibibbo, he poured an alphabetical tour of wine grapes*). Finally, it was reviewed “Leuca” the newly-opened restaurant in the Williamsburg district of New York specializing in Apulian food (November 1 – Leuca, Andrew Carmellini’s Latest, Opens in Williamsburg).
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