To fully understand Milan it is necessary to look into the fashion industry. Milan is said to be one of the world’s fashion capitals. This is only the outcome of a really extensive network that involves different activities, people, and scales.
From the plantation of cotton to the export of finished products to the other end of the world, there is a lot of intermediate networks connections. Big companies such as Prada, D&G, Armani... have their headquarters based on Milan (Italy’s economic capital) but there is actually more than 12.000 companies, 800 showrooms and 6.000 sales outlets and shops in within the local borders. Yet this is only the small scale of an even greater web.
Products such as textiles: cotton, silk, hemp, artificial fibers... are manufactured in the region (See Textiles industries in the map). Mainly in peripheral cities surrounding Milan. Some other products necessary for the production of chemical products; are imported from other places, mainly Asian countries. Where there are also some de-centralized factories expanding the network to an international level in terms of productions.
However, the production of clothes and fashion products is only a small field of the main focus of this companies nowadays. As these companies kept becoming more and more international and gaining fame, the revenues increased and the investment of these companies in other fields like restaurant and hotels business started. As well as the creation of different foundations dedicated to the expansion of design and arts in the region and all around the world.
After the worldwide expansion, other investors like Middle-East and Asian investors also started investing in this companies, even buying whole companies in some situations (Valentino S.p.A).
Long story short, we find a network that has an economical feedback process in different fields and in different scales. For this process to become feasible transportation systems and infrastructures are needed (Airports, commercial rails...). These ones are not only located in Milano but extended to other clusters around the region and that helps to connect the “quadrillatero de la moda” and the activity in Milano not only with Italy and Europe but with the rest of the world.
