Economy – There have been several reports this week about companies choosing to invest in Italy over the next few months. At least, that is what Keith Breslauer, the MD of London’s Patron Capital Partners – that deals mostly in restructuring and undervalued assets – told Bloomberg on 12 July (Italy Beats Brexit as Private-Equity Strategy, Patron Says). The very next day, the same agency wrote about another company, this time American, interested in the Italian market, namely Starbucks and its decision to invest in Princi, thereby increasing its involvement in the catering industry (Starbucks Invests in Italian Bakery as Reliance on Food Grows). In other coffee news, reported by Reuters on 12 July, costing 74.5 million Euros, Portugal’s Nutricafes Euros, has just made the Massimo Zanetti beverage group even bigger (Italian coffee group Massimo Zanetti buys Portuguese Nutricafes). It was the luxury sector that got the attention of Spanish financial daily Expansion in an article, on 11 July, describing a visit to the Marcolin factory where some 14 million frames for spectacles by some of the world’s leading fashion houses are made each year (Así se trabaja en Marcolin, la fábrica italiana de donde salen las gafas de lujo).
Milan’s Stock Exchange also made the news when ENAV became the first air traffic control agency in Europe to be listed, as reported in two German papers on 8 July: the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Italien bringt Flugsicherung an die Börse) and Handelsblatt, (Italien bringt Flugsicherung in Startposition).
Culture – Books took up most of the cultural news this week, with Le Monde writing, on 13 July, about Primo Levi and his book, “La tregua” – The Truce – (Primo Levi, maître du savoir-revivre*) and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 11 July about Prof. Francesco Traniello’s work exploring the history of Italy (Zeugnis des Beichvaters). Cinema also got a mention however, with an account in the 9 July Edition of Le Monde, of the de La Rochelle Film Festival and its celebration of Alberto Sordi (Le festival de La Rochelle célèbre le jeu de bascule d’Alberto Sordi*).
Fashion & Design – These two sectors continue to pique much attention in the world’s press and on 10 July, the Financial Times described the Dolce & Gabbana fashion show staged in the streets of Naples (Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Naples show report*), whereas on 8 July, the New York Times wrote about the latest Fendi collections presented against the backdrop of the Trevi Fountain in Rome (Fendi’s Dolce Vita*).
Some of the sector’s high profile protagonists also got a mention: the recent appointment of Marco Gobbetti as CEO for Burberry was the focus of an article in the Financial Times on 11 July (Burberry hires Gobbetti as new CEO from Céline*), whilst for Expansion, on 8 July, it was the secrets of success according to designer Fabio Novembre that was of interest (Fabio Novembre, el arquitecto que se inspira en las curvas femeninas).
Tourism – It was the luxury end of Italian vacations that attracted the most attention in this week’s international papers. On 8 July, the Financial Times, visited the Lamborghini Museum, recently renovated in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first “supercar” (Postcard from…‘Motor Valley’*). A day earlier, it was the Palazzo Dona Sangiantoffetti – a “gem” of a property in Venice – on sale for 10 million Euros that featured in the Real Estate section of the New York Times (Saving a (Relatively) Tiny Gem in Venice), whilst on 8 July, the same paper was in a chic district of Milan to review the Hotel LaGare, located just a stone’s throw from Milan’s Central Station (In Fashionable Milan, a Hotel Dressed in (What Else?) Black.)*. A few days later, on 12 July, the Wall Street Journal featured New York’s Mayor, Bill de Blasio’s plans to holiday in Italy, just as he has every year since his appointment (New York City Mayor Plans Vacation in Italy). Germany’s Die Welt, on the other hand, ran a piece on 11 July about a more relaxed type of vacation in the Salento ( 11 luglio – Der Salento ist Italien wie aus dem Bilderbuch.
*Article available for pay / at registration