Finance for growth – Alliances, stock market listings, and growth strategies. Italian companies are reclaiming centre stage this week in the international media’s financial coverage. While Intesa Sanpaolo – explains Reuters – is still looking for allies to grow in wealth management (June 15 – Intesa CEO talking to several investors over wealth management deal), some groups like pasta maker De Cecco are pondering a stock market listing (Reuters, June 18 – Italian pasta maker appoints former Nomad Foods exec as CEO ahead of listing). Other growth strategies involve transferring stakes to other investors; this is the case with Recordati, a pharmaceutical company that is in talks with the CVC fund (June 19 – CVC in talks over €3bn stake in Recordati pharma business*); Ferragamo (Reuters, June 19 – Ferragamo family holding to sell 3.5 percent in Italian luxury group), and Missoni. The family famous for its colourful apparel has ceded a stake in its equity to Fondo Strategico Italiano, its aim being to raise capital so as to “become a global player” and “compete in the global fashion and luxury industry” (Financial Times, June 15 – Missoni bids for scale with stake sale*).
The week in fashion – Italian brands are also making fashion news. With men’s Fashion Week getting under way in Milan, Les Echos explains that “fashion houses are seeking to rethink themselves economically and creatively” (June 19 – Milan cherche son homme*). Other news outlets focus on the offerings of the individual brands: from Dolce&Gabbana, which “is aiming at a multi-generational clientele without losing the essence of the house” (Les Echos, June 18 – Fashion Week Homme Printemps-Eté 2019 : la grande famille de Dolce & Gabbana*) to Prada, currently reconsidering its “idea of man” (Les Echos, June 18 – Fashion Week Homme Printemps-Eté 2019 : le cas Prada*). There is also coverage of “new concepts” in clothing making their way from Italy, “the cradle of fashion” to Spain: this is the case with Colmar. El Mundo interviews its CEO Giulio Colombo (June 18 – Giulio Colombo, CEO de Colmar: “Nos encantaría que la Reina Letizia vistiera de nuestra firma”).
Culture – Plenty of cultural stories are making the news, with a number of ideas for travel to Italy: while El Pais speaks of “Pompei’s second life” thanks to the finds unearthed in an as yet unexplored area of the city (June 17 – Pompeya, en busca de una segunda vida), The Wall Street Journal explains how La Scala is managing to win over audiences under 30 (June 30 – How Europe’s Opera Houses Won Over Millennials). There is also coverage of new exhibitions to see, like the National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah (Museo Nazionale dell’Ebraismo Italiano e della Shoah – MEIS) in Ferrara, with an article by The Washington Post explaining why this space is different from other museums dedicated to the Holocaust (June 8 – In a prison that once housed Jews, a new museum devoted to Italy’s Jewish experience). The New York Times, on the other hand, pays a visit to the Cruising Pavilon at the Venice Architecture Biennale, an “illicit cathedral” dedicated to taking on taboos with a “provocative” new take on sex, while paying homage to a Mineshaft, a famous gay night spot in Manhattan (June 20 – In Venice, Center of Cruising, a Biennale Show About Hooking Up*). “Radical and provocative” is also the style of set designer Romeo Castellucci, profiled in the French newspaper Liberation (June 20 – Romeo Castellucci à Corps et à Christ*). Lastly, in the literary world, El Pais interviews Domenico Starnone on his book Lacci (June 20 – Domenico Starnone: “Los hombres tenemos cada vez más dificultad para relatarnos”).
Cuisine – The focus is on Osteria Francescana, back at the top of international cuisine, with its recognition as the “world’s best restaurant,” a title it had already claimed in 2016 (June 19 and 20 Jin The New York Times – Osteria Francescana Tops World’s 50 Best Restaurant List*; Reuters – Italy’s Osteria Francescana scoops world’s best restaurant prize; Bloomberg – Osteria Francescana Is the Best Restaurant in the World, Again; Expansion – Osteria Francescana, mejor restaurante del mundo; L’Orient le Jour – L’Osteria Francescana de nouveau “meilleur restaurant du monde”). For traditional fare, Süddeutsche Zeitung proposes the recipe for stuffed pork shoulder (June 20 – Toskanisch eingelegte Schweineschulter), while Der Standard focuses on the “futurism” of risotto alla caprese (19 June – Risotto Caprese: Bella Italia am Teller).
*Article available for pay / at registration