Italy’s Fashion Brands and Chinese Entrepreneurship
Italy's Fashion Brands and Chinese Entrepreneurship
In the 1990s, Prato, a historic city in Tuscany, Italy, faced a labor shortage and struggled to keep up with the fast-paced fashion industry. This challenge led to an influx of Chinese immigrants who collaborated with Italians to produce affordable garments, establishing Prato as one of Europe's largest concentrations of Chinese immigrants, with one in four residents originating from China. Xu Qiulin, who began his career in fast fashion in Prato in 1989, exemplifies this narrative. Starting with a small workshop, he witnessed the Chinese population grow from a few hundred to 50,000.
The Chinese community in Prato evolved over time, transitioning from working in Italian factories to becoming entrepreneurs and establishing their own bu...