On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Prada Group Academy, that is the school where the group trains its future artisans, both the CEO Andrea Guerra and Lorenzo Bertelli, chief marketing officer & head of corporate social responsibility of the group, reflected on the growing importance that artisanal jobs are taking on in the field of luxury. These very jobs, being the most dependent on a human factor that no machine can replicate, could soon represent a very relevant category for young people, even though the sector appears to be in crisis.
«Today we find ourselves in a world where technology is replacing processes, which are easier to automate», Bertelli explained, as reported by Il Sole 24Ore. «On the other hand, artisanal work cannot be replaced. Technical and specialized roles are high value-added professions and will not disappear, on the contrary they will be sought after and well paid». Adding that we are heading toward an era in which artisanal work will be better paid than office jobs. Andrea Guerra also provided some numerical data. «By 2028 more than 270,000 specialized figures will be needed in manufacturing, 75,000 of which in luxury alone, and it is estimated that today only 50 percent of supply meets demand». But is it true that the future of fashion will rely less and less on design offices and more and more on artisanal production facilities?
Brands’ internal pipelines to hire artisans
Many brands have in fact already created an internal pipeline to source artisans by establishing or strengthening internal schools or academies. The case that nss magazine had discussed most in the past was that of Bottega Veneta which, after inaugurating its own academy, had trained fifty artisans who at the end of their studies would be directly hired by the company. In 2025 alone, Prada’s artisanal courses «trained 76 young people, 61 of whom joined the production structures of the Prada Group throughout Italy» according to the group’s website.
In general, since the 2021–22 period many brands have created proper institutional courses for their artisans. Prada’s have been active for about 25 years but found a precise and institutional codification around 2022 despite existing for two decades. The same applies to the École Hermès des Savoir-Faire formally founded in 2021 but active for decades. The Richemont group or a brand like Kiton have been active with official initiatives since the early 2000s, the initiatives of Brunello Cucinelli and LVMH began between 2013 and 2014 as did the Loewe academy, and in 2018 that of Gucci, while dating back to 2021 are the School of Trades of the OTB group, the large complex le19M by Chanel which includes training courses for embroiderers and so on.
As can be seen, the mechanism works, perhaps with the only drawback of not being able to train large numbers of artisans at the same time, perhaps fewer than a hundred per year. And this is why Andrea Guerra said that at the moment demand for artisanal roles is only half satisfied and will continue to grow. Especially since, according to the Excelsior 2025 report on artisanal businesses by Unioncamere, the “new” nature of Italian craftsmanship, which increasingly incorporates digital elements and sustainability policies, has a very strong demand for young people. But why?
Young people and Made in Italy
According to the report, of all the 491,000 hires planned last year by artisanal companies about 150,000, that is 30.2% involved young people under thirty. Obviously we are not talking only about fashion artisans, but it is very indicative that since 2021 the share of young people has steadily increased, reaching a peak of 31.1% in 2023 and then stabilizing around 30% in 2024–2025. Last year, however, 59.7% of companies had difficulty finding new staff due to a «perception of craftsmanship as a sector characterized by physically demanding roles, less prestigious or not very aligned with modern aspirations».
According to Confartigianato, this year, when it comes to tailors and artisanal cutters, micro and small enterprises encounter difficulties in finding personnel in 59.5% of cases, a percentage that rises to 81.3% when looking for workers operating machines for garment manufacturing. The percentages of difficulty, however, affect a truly astonishing number of sectors, so the problem does not concern only fashion but society as a whole. But why these difficulties?
Potential critical issues in the sector
Although artisanal fashion companies report great difficulty in finding new and young workers, the problem does not depend only on a lack of interest from young people but on various structural causes. The first would be salaries: according to Wageindicator a young tailor can earn from 1200 to 1800 per month and after five years hope for a salary between 1400 and 2000 euros; according to Talent.com the salary is around 24,000 euros per year. Speaking with Fashion Magazine young tailors from the Kiton school, CEO De Matteis pointed out that the average salary in manufacturing companies is between 23,000 and 27,000 euros per year, while it is between 43,000 and 45,000 gross for employees of the brand’s factory in Arzano.
On the page of the Corriere della Sera dedicated to Naples, there is mention of a student who «from September to December will gain experience in the field with a salary of 900 euros. Then, from next January, he will be hired with a salary ranging from 1,500 to 1,800 euros net». But if Kiton is the exception, it means that wages in the sector are not particularly attractive and according to the Unipol Generationship Observatory 2025, low wages represent the main reason why people under 35 refuse or leave a job opportunity. For this reason last year both Confartigianato and CNA repeatedly called for the restoration of full contribution relief for the first three years of apprenticeship precisely because the current incentive framework is not sufficient to attract young people.
Another problem is location. Fashion craftsmanship in Italy is based on several historic districts such as Prato, Florence, Como or Biella, however consisting of provincial or semi-rural areas, far from large cities with their services, social life and opportunities. Other obstacles are represented by doubts about working conditions and irregular hours and safety issues in factories for which many Italian companies have often become notoriously known. According to INAIL, whose latest available data date back to the 2015–2019 period, the average annual number of workplace accidents reported each year in the sector is 3,500 cases.
In short, working in a factory is not yet an attractive profession for young people, even though in Italy there are 1.4 million inactive individuals, that is 23.4% of the population. A much higher average than in Europe. All the reports cited speak of this image problem as Andrea Guerra also does in Il Sole 24Ore: «It is up to us to create the conditions, making it understood that manual work is not just assembly, but teamwork […]. It is up to us to give content to our work».
On the other hand, however, the sector offers job stability, the possibility of becoming self-employed or starting one’s own business and the prestige of Made in Italy. To make fashion craftsmanship truly attractive it would be necessary to act on several fronts: higher wages (though that would be needed throughout Italy), incentives for those who move to the districts and investment in the repopulation of “forgotten” provincial areas as well as greater flexibility and modern communication that enhances the creativity, technology and sustainability of these professions.