What does climate change have to do with winter sales? Record heat puts a damper on cashmere

More shocking than this summer's heat, more disorienting than Beppe Sala's latest outings, this October Italy recorded the highest temperatures ever during the autumn. In the first weeks of the month, Turin and Milan exceeded 31 degrees, while on the Matterhorn in Valle d'Aosta, the thermostat struggled - and still does - to drop below zero after 3,000 metres. According to the National System for the Protection of the Environment, the heat of the last few weeks is a grave omen, reflected in the image of glaciers that continue to melt when they should already be covered in snow. Just as the world is witnessing a temporal and thermal change of seasons, with longer summers and springs and shorter winters, so are consumer habits changing. In Italy, shops in the big cities have long since replaced swimming costumes and tank tops with tights and scarves, but passers-by, happy to remain in t-shirts, still don't want to think about down jackets. During the first days of October, sales of clothing and accessories dropped by -30%, a fact that is prompting retailers to look for solutions.

According to a survey by Federmoda, 54% of shopkeepers surveyed reported a drop in sales in the first month of autumn. Giulio Felloni, president of Federazione Moda Italia- Confcommercio, spoke about the economic problems that will result from this exceptional heat. «From the point of view of the commercial offer, the summer season is over, but the weather season is putting a strain on our shops, which are facing serious problems ranging from increasingly full and assorted warehouses to financial challenges linked to payment deadlines, as well as overheads such as taxes, energy costs, indexed rents and staff costs.» While waiting for temperatures to start dropping, the winter sales and Black Friday have already kicked off, although they usually start in January and on the third Friday of November respectively. The fashion retail world thus finds itself facing a new, perhaps predictable challenge, alongside the post-pandemic lower consumer affordability and the slowdown in growth of luxury groups.