FRANKFURT, Germany—Giulia Fumagalli, the new CEO of Imatex has firmly taken over the management of the $35 million plus family owned company and was very much in evidence at the Imatex stand at Heimtextil 2014.

“We are first and foremost, a family business at Imatex and I want to keep it that way,” she emphasizes. Giulia, 28 years with Imatex, says she worked in every department including R&D, marketing and production, alongside her uncle Elio and her father Luigi, two of the three founders in 1960. She is now running the business. Nicoletta, Giulia’s sister is working in the accounting department and cousin Isabella is involved in R&D at Imatex. “In order to renew Imatex, we needed more enthusiasm and a change in our management was necessary,” she explains.

Imatex is still one of the largest jacquard mills in Italy and one of the biggest in Europe with   110 employees, the same number of people who worked for the company six years ago. Giulia stresses that Imatex is a yarn forward vertical mill with dyeing and finishing in house. Made in Italy is a big part of Giulia’s enthusiastic push. This includes Italian taste and a high standard of service.

“We will control our quality and delivery even if the order is one to three meters in the USA or anywhere else. Giulia is shooting for a two to 15 day delivery for all orders. About 30 percent of her business is domestic with the rest devoted to export. The UK and Europe in general, specifically Germany and France are her largest markets today. “The USA will become even more important to Imatex in the future,” she says. “By becoming more aggressive, we hope to do more business in the States with the jobbers whom we will follow more closely than before.”

She takes control after a management change which saw the departure of first Pietro Bertarini, the longtime General Manager of Imatex followed by Marco Guggi, Export Manager, this past October.   Finally, Marco Fumagalli left Imatex at year end 2013 with his ownership share now in the hands of Giulia and Grazia Fumagalli,   Elio’s widow. Elio was one of the original three partners, all deceased. While Grazia has ownership, it is Giulia who is now involved in the business day to day. The Imatex Team: Giulia Fumagalli, CEO (front) Elisa Fumagalli, Sales Division (left) and to her right is Paola Rigamonti, Sales Division; Stefano Guidotti, Art Director (right); Andrew Molyneux, UK Agent

Giulia is the daughter of one of the original three founders of this 50 year old mill. Guggi, previously export manager for 16 years was considered the international face of the company but Giulia is taking over that responsibility and plans to personally call on her jobber customers, especially in the USA where she wants to pay more attention to the business.

“By focusing in on the jobber, we hope to reduce the time it takes to give them the custom products they require,” she says. She expects to travel and work closely with Maria Garber, the longtime Imatex agent in the USA.

In addition to bringing in a management consultant to help her run the marketing side of the business, Giulia brought in Stefano Guidotti as Art Director. He is responsible for developing the new designs required by Imatex customers. This is a new position and is also tied to developing the image for the company, he says.