Schmid 2022 ends up with a growing balance sheet, also thanks to a collection full of innovations and collaborations projected to a sustainable future
After the relaunch of the brand from its historic role in the Italian production system, research and innovation have made a leap in quality. Excellence converter in the sector of fabrics and semi-finished products for clothing and high-end accessories, Schmid is today a proactive partner, able to foresee the trends that prefigure the future and the needs related to the new sustainable development goals. Valerio Baiardo, CEO of the company based in Giuliano Milanese (Milano province), draws up a balance sheet for the year that has just ended, anticipating some news to be featured in the next edition of Lineapelle.
Valerio Baiardo, let’s start from 2022. How did this year end up?
“2022 was a year of relaunch for us. Although the comparison with 2021 must take into account the extraordinary effects derived from the pandemic, we closed the financial statements by recording a 37% increase in turnover, a result that pays homage and honors the various innovations launched on the market by the company. We have pushed even further on the creative side, making use of the precious collaboration of external stylistic consultants. In addition to revisiting our classics by renewing them, we have enlarged the range of technical products and those featuring natural fibers. In my opinion, the collection is now well organized and clear: on the one hand, there are the products that I define “wow- effect” as they are very eye-catching, on the other there are the articles we never stop producing and for which we are renowned, but boasting new colors and implemented with new processes. In short, compared to previous years, I believe a further step forward has been taken in terms of sample collection.
How is the collaboration with Directa Plus for the use of graphene in textiles going?
“We started to reap the first fruits. The collaboration with Directa Plus highlights our vocation towards the future. The partnership with one of the world’s largest suppliers of graphene nanoplatelet-based compounds for application in the consumer and industrial markets is a challenge that opens new horizons also in fashion. Graphene’s ability to improve the performance of application materials is groundbreaking both in terms of health and comfort of the end user.
We are confident of the interest shown by some trade operators who care about its functional value. At the moment Directa Plus is the only company in the world to produce graphene through physical and not chemical processes and this represents an important added value.”
What other projects did you undertake?
“We managed to develop a mesh made of 70% recycled nylon, able to meet acceptable standards of break resistance and color tolerance. We are trying to increase the portfolio of environmentally friendly items, also promoting the creative reuse of materials from inventories. In this regard, we undertook a collaboration with the students attending the course Texile Culture, held by professor Livia Crispolti, at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, entrusting them with a series of fabrics in stock to be reworked into unique and recycled creations. We have left them free reins in terms of creativity. The only constraint is the reproducibility of the product, if not on an industrial scale, at least according to an evolved and dynamic crafts processing. Schmid has always relied a lot on young people. We count on the young, fresh, enthusiastic and untouched soul of the participants, that I was pleased to meet during a lesson set up to present Schmid’s tasks. We will display the best works in a dedicated area at the upcoming edition of Lineapelle. Scholarships are provided as prizes.”
What are your expectations for the future?
“In January we registered a +30% in revenues than in the same period last year. Order intake seems to be proceeding and the luxury markets keep on going well.
There is great expectation for the fair, where we will showcase the new Spring- Summer 2024 collections.”
Valerio Baiardo, CEO di Schmid
Schmid’s CEO Valerio Baiardo