DESIGN ITALY EDITORIAL by Ranieri: Miami - A Rapidly Growing Place of Opportunity

Made in Italy design and Miami are not two such far apart worlds. Let's find out why in Ranieri's editorial.

Miami and made-in-Italy could be two sides of the same coin. Not in the sense of being opposites, but two different realities that feed off each other with mutual benefits. In Miami, made-in-Italy is not just a passing fad but a consolidated fact, and economic players – of all sizes and from all sectors and whether or not they have a clear link to Italy and all things made-in-Italy – that decide to open up to the US market from Miami are gaining concrete advantages. 

Let’s take a look at a few examples, starting with data on the volume of exports from Italy. The USA is the top non-European country and imported €31.4 billion in goods and products from January to August this year, €42.4 billion in 2020, and €45.5 billion in 2019. As far as Miami is concerned, there are lots of benefits to doing business in Florida’s most famous city, starting with a tax regime that is more favourable than that of other North American states, both at a per capita level (there is no taxation on individual income) and at a corporate level (with corporate taxation rates in Florida being some of the lowest in the country). Without forgetting, of course, that Miami – at least in most people’s minds –  is synonymous with luxury. Thus from an Italian point of view, the city is the destination of choice for the “3Fs” of made-in-Italy: food, fashion, and furniture. Incidentally, imports related to the world of design have recently exceeded those relating to the food sector.

And undoubtedly a further growth driver for Italian design in Miami comes from the boost that the real estate sector is experiencing in the state, with the pandemic accelerating an increase that had been evident for almost five years. The trigger was the 2017 tax reform that made Florida, and specifically Miami, a destination of choice for a large range of upper- and middle-income population groups. The city’s handling of the pandemic, with fewer restrictions than in the rest of the world, and its mild weather for much of the year have given a further boost to the real estate market, which is set to continue growing over the next few years.

In Miami, Design Italy was selected to be part of the “SustainabItaly - People, Planet, Prosperity” exhibit at the Wolfsonian–FIU Museum. The recently-inaugurated exhibit, which will be open to visitors until 20 March 2022, is championing concepts that have been at the core of Design Italy since it opened its doors: sustainability, functionality, and environmental responsibility.

Ranieri