I think its very difficult to say [that Milan is] not still innovative. Of course the Salone del Mobile is the main meeting for design. Probably will still be for a number of... ten years, I don't know. But from a manufacturing point of view it has changed a lot. A lot of firms have problems in the last years because of the competitors in China or Turkey or India. It is very difficult to keep manufacturing here in Italy because of the cost of labour. The main companies that are more interesting and more bright companies they are I think they are going to survive. They're going to understand that they have to sell the knowledge and the design and not the product itself.

I think that the good companies are doing that. They are keeping the design part, the art craftsmanship that gives the quality and they give away all the part that is not really so Italian, it is not really so important to give the quality.