Chairman, Miroglio S.p.A. (Miroglio Group)
Generali Italia|TAM TAM TALKS| Giuseppe Miroglio | AZIENDA E OPEN INNOVATION: IL MODELLO MIROGLIO
Giuseppe Miroglio, Presidente Gruppo Miroglio, attraverso il racconto della propria esperienza nel settore tessile, parla dell’importanza dell’Open Innovation e delle start-up come veicolo per innovare.
Transcript (1 segments)
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Giuseppe Miroglio0:10
Thank you, Luca. I am very happy to be here with all of you. I want to share a topic dear to me: innovation and specifically open innovation. I believe the connection between traditional companies, like my family's textile business, and the world of startups is extremely important. I speak today as President and shareholder of Miroglio Group and also as a board member of one of Italy's main accelerators, iChiarm, which gives me two perspectives. Our group, founded by my grandfather 70 years ago, is a family business with about €700 million in revenue. We operate along the entire textile and apparel chain, focusing on fashion retail with six women's clothing brands and over 1,000 stores across Europe. Our industrial roots are in weaving, and we still have Miroglio Textile, a European leader in printed fabric serving Inditex/Zara. About ten years ago, facing a crisis from Chinese competition, we decided to invest heavily in digital printing technology, turning the company around. This showed that innovation is possible even in traditional sectors. Technological evolution is exponential and democratized, creating opportunities and threats. We met Riccardo Donadon of iChiarm and created the Miroglio Innovation Programme two years ago. It focuses on internal innovation and bridging startups with our company. We have two startups: The Colossus, an online platform for custom printed fabric using our fabric, and Taylor Italy, an online platform for custom women's clothing, founded by an experienced entrepreneur. The collaboration benefits both sides: startups gain access to our distribution, customers, and supply chain; we gain the ability to experiment with new business models at low risk, acquire digital skills, and foster innovation culture. Challenges include not overwhelming the startup with structure and ensuring sustainability. I believe open innovation is vital for Italy's manufacturing economy and will only grow in importance. Thank you.