IP and Business: IP Strategies in the Textile Industry - An SME faces the challenge
| Author | Sylvie Castonguay |
| Position | WIPO Magazine editorial team, Communications and Public Outreach Division |
The silk fabrics of Gustavo De Negri & Za.Ma grace the homes of the rich and famous, presidential residences, royal palaces and luxury yachts. De Negri makes the fabrics which are presented by renowned interior decorators at the prestigious Maison & Objet fair in Paris as their own. De Negri's client list includes Ralph Lauren Home and Christopher Hyland Inc. - the largest purveyor of luxury European textiles in the world.
Gustavo De Negri, who founded the company in 1998, is the fifth generation of his family in the silk-making trade. WIPO Magazine asked Signor De Negri how his small enterprise of 42 employees is competing with inexpensive, attractive Asian fabrics that are flooding the European market.
The company's strategy is threefold: a constant self-renewal by creating new fabric designs; technical innovation in the mill's mechanical, chemical and finishing processes; and the creation of a strong collective trademark for silk fabrics from San Leucio.
The previous generations of the De Negri family made silks for the ceremonial robes of popes and cardinals at the Vatican as well as for Europe's royal families. Without disrupting this service, Gustavo has extended the range - and with it the reach of his company - by branching into high end decorative fabrics for home furnishing. He offers what he calls "a tailor-made dress for the house." Every De Negri design is unique and produced in limited edition.
De Negri uses no standard weaves. Every creation results from months of research and development into the design, colors, weaving and finishing. Gustavo De Negri launches the creative process by studying both interior decoration and fashion trends. He then discusses his ideas with his two designers to choose a direction. Over the months that follow, the designers research past designs, works of art, coats of arms, etc. in order to create two or three novel designs, which De Negri tests with his client base. From their feedback, a design is selected and a prototype produced to test different qualities of fabric, color and weaving.
The company launches its new prototype designs every January at the Proposte trade fair in Como, Italy, where the world's interior decorators select the fabrics that they would like to make their own. De Negri then works with them to...
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