Italy designers Lagostina, Alessi, Bialetti tough out recession

But the allure of great design and artisanal quality is failing to insulate this narrow valley and home of Lagostina, Alessi and Bialetti from Italy's worst post-war recession.

So modern that people often think they are new, the brands have grown through decades with the inhabitants of the valley near the Alps surviving war, poverty, landslides and avalanches. Now they are feeling the pinch.

“Are we immune to the crisis? The answer is no,” said Alberto Alessi, 62, design director and grandson of Giovanni Alessi, a lathe worker who founded the family firm in 1921.

Competition from low-cost Chinese or Romanian manufacturers, outsourcing and recession have shut down many family firms and dampened Italian manufacturing, which accounts for about one-fifth of output from the eurozone's third-largest economy.

Houseware exports, the main source of income for an area heavily reliant on manufacturing, fell 59 percent year-on-year to 62 million euros in the first six months of 2009.

Omegna, a peaceful strip of land on Lake Orta in Piedmont region, owes its niche in houseware to craftsmen who emigrated to Germany in the 18th century to work in pewter, then returned home to set up their own businesses.

The industry employs 1,130 people in a territory of 160,000, according to a July estimate by the chamber of commerce — 9 percent fewer than in 2008.

“In the boom years of the '60s there were about 40 houseware firms in Omegna,” recalled Alessi, whose creative drive helped transform his company into a top design brand.

That number has more than halved, although the resilience of the locals, forged by poverty and a rugged landscape, remains.

“This province is trying to overcome the current difficulties by focusing on those quality products that have made us famous,” said Roberta Costi at the chamber of commerce.

The combination of style and practicality that inspired Bialetti's trademark “Moka express” and Lagostina's first stainless steel saucepans — which are on display at the Museum of Modern Art of New York along with Alessi's coffee machine “9090” — are key factors to counter the competition.

Sixteen houseware firms have teamed up with the chamber of commerce to explore new markets like Russia and develop innovations, for example by using nanotechnology, whose uses could include making stainless steel knives sharper.

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