Made in Italy: Turning a Profit – Italian fashion is once again in the media spotlight, but not for the fashion shows. Interest this week has centered on the earnings of the large fashion houses, like Prada, whose profits rose by 72% thanks to growing sales in Asia (March 28, Wall Street Journal – Prada Profit Jumps 72%, With Big Gain in China;* Les Echos – Luxe : l’italien Prada enregistre des résultats records* and Le Figaro – Prada va ouvrir 160 boutiques de luxe d’ici à fin 2013), and Versace, which showed a profit in 2011 (March 27, Financial Times – Upbeat Versace returns to profit* and Wall Street Journal – Gianni Versace Returns to Profit After Three Years of Losses*)
Newspapers around the world are also talking about the industrial strategies of Italian designers and luxury item manufacturers. The Brazilian Valor Economico explains how Benetton is planning to attract younger buyers (March 27, Benetton fecha capital e tenta reconquistar jovens*), and the International Herald Tribune describes the Bulgari family’s diversification into the world of fine wines (24 March – Bulgari Family Tries to Become a Name in Wine).
But fashion is not the only sector receiving attention. Lavazza with its Barista chain, is the subject of two articles (March 25, Economic Times –Barista aims at three-fold rise in India revenue in 3 years; Hindustan Times – Barista plays catch-up with Coffee Day). Both discuss the coffee giant’s objective of tripling sales on the Indian market. Another article in the United Arab Emirate’s Gulf News (March 25 – Gelato course proves a big draw) examines the rapid expansion of the Italian gelato market in the Persian Gulf.
Monti in Asia and the Italian economy – There is still a great deal of interest in economic events in Italy, and numerous reports on Prima Minister Mario Monti’s visit to Asia. Using his nickname, Super Mario, the Wall Street Journal discusses the fight against public debt, a common goal in Rome and in Tokyo (March 30 – Super Mario and the Loach Vs Debtzilla), and the Spanish paper Expanion explains Mont’s declaration that the eurozone crisis is “almost over” (29 marzo – Monti asegura ahora que la crisis de la zona euro ‘casi ha terminado’). And at the same time as the article on bilateral agreements with Beijing in Le Figaro, there was another announcing that Fiat is planning to return to China (Les Echos, March 28 – Fiat prépare son retour en Chine).
There were numerous comments on the cultural pages of the foreign press about the death of Antonio Tabucchi. Newspapers in Lisbon (where the writer was at home) published articles (the front page piece in Publico, March 26, Um escritor que gostava mais da dúvida do que da perfeição; March 30, Diario de Noticias, – Até sempre, Antonio Tabucchi) and in other papers such as Die Welt (March 26 – Portugal war seine große Liebe), El Mundo (March 25 – Antonio Tabucchi, referente literario y del compromiso civil) and El Pais, March 27 – El profesor que siempre sonreía). The Argentinean papers La Nacion and Clarin, turn their attention to the the contribution to democracy and the fight against dictatorship with his most famous work Pereira Maintains (March il 26, La Nacion – Tabucchi, escritor crítico de su época; Clarin – Se apagó una voz de la libertad)
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