The Italian Trade Agency (ITA) returned to Chicago Collective‘s August edition with a dedicated pavilion of more than 64 sponsored brands, eight of them exhibiting under the ITA banner for the first time. The agency has sponsored the show in both its Fall and Spring editions, and the Chicago presence now sits alongside a broader U.S. calendar and, as of this June, a first partnership with Miami Swim Week.
The scale of the commitment tracks with the numbers. Fashion is Italy’s third-largest manufacturing sector, behind machinery and automotive, with a supply chain of roughly 79,000 companies and a workforce of more than 456,000. In 2025, Italy ranked 11th globally as an exporter of men’s apparel and accessories to the United States, at more than $1.08 billion and a market share of close to 3 percent. The U.S. remains the largest non-EU destination for Made in Italy fashion.
