Ready on the floor
Pieces that already exist in the warehouse. Choose them on video or in person and they ship once paid.
Sourcing serviceFor US boutiques and independent retailers
Skip the six-month preorder. In Prato the clothes are already made and hanging in the warehouse, so you pick what fits your store now and it ships as soon as it is paid for and packed.
Why US buyers look to Prato
Most of what a US boutique carries is ordered at market weeks or on wholesale platforms, often half a year before it lands. By then the trend may have moved, and the store across town may be selling the exact same piece.
Buying direct from Italy is the alternative, but the warehouses in Prato rarely answer emails from overseas, want payment wired to each one separately and leave export and customs to you.
In Prato you buy what already exists, and we take care of the rest until it reaches your door.
In season
Pronto moda works the opposite way to a trade show. Garments are made in short runs and replaced quickly, so the warehouses change every week. You buy for the season you are in, and when something sells out you can often reorder it or find a close alternative.
Before the first session we learn your store: your customer, your price points, the styles that sell for you. The warehouses we walk you through are chosen from that brief, and every piece is checked before it is boxed.
Made in Italy for your floor
Our buying for US stores is mostly women’s clothing made in Italy. Boutiques in Florida, Texas or Arizona keep linen and lightweight pieces on the floor most of the year; stores in the Northeast and the Midwest come to us for wool coats and knitwear in the fall.
Pieces that already exist in the warehouse. Choose them on video or in person and they ship once paid.
Sourcing service
Warehouse styles reworked to your brief, with the colors and fabrics you pick, through our private label team.
Private label
Your designs and your brand on the label, produced in Italy. Sampling comes first; production starts at 100 units a style and €3,000 an order.
Private labelWe source some menswear and kidswear as well, in a narrower range.
Buying from the US
From the US
Italy is six hours ahead of New York and nine ahead of Los Angeles. Sessions can run until 8 or 9pm Italian time, showrooms permitting, so the East Coast buys in the morning and California from early morning until about noon.
In Italy
Fly into Rome or Milan and take the fast train to Florence, or connect to Florence airport, and spend your days in the showrooms alongside our buyer, who handles the driving and keeps track of everything you order.
Importing into the US
Every order travels DAP. The courier brings it to your door, handles US Customs and bills you for duty and fees on arrival.
Commercial orders usually go through a formal customs entry. UPS, DHL and FedEx act as the customs broker for the shipment, so you do not need to hire one for a standard order.
US rates on clothing from the EU have changed several times since 2025. The courier applies the rate in force on the day your goods arrive, and we can tell you the current situation before you buy.
The $800 duty-free allowance for small shipments is suspended, so every order is assessed for duty at customs, whatever its value.
Garments arrive with fiber content and care labels. Your store name can be added in Prato on a sewn-in label or a hang tag, and we can shoot product photos for your website. Labels and photography.
Information checked on
Shipping to the US
The highlighted points are the US cities our orders went to this year, from New York to Santa Fe. Each shipment is handed to UPS, DHL or FedEx after you pay the shipping quote.
You pay shipping on the real weight and size of your boxes, quoted once the order is packed.
US questions
Not for a standard order. The courier clears the shipment as your broker and adds duty and fees to its invoice. If you already work with a broker, we can send the paperwork to them instead.
It depends on the garment and on the rules in force when it arrives, which have changed often in the last two years. Ask us before your session and we will tell you where things stand that week.
Our invoices are in euros. You can pay by wire, Wise, PayPal or card, and the conversion from dollars happens at your bank or card issuer. Wise usually costs less than a bank wire. Card payments come with a surcharge between 2.5% and 4.5%.
Often, yes, as long as the warehouse still has it or is making another run. When it is gone we look for the closest replacement across the district.
At a show you preorder from samples and wait months. In Prato you buy finished stock that ships once it is paid and packed, in smaller quantities per style, and the warehouse minimums are usually a few hundred euros.
Fiber content and care instructions are already on the garments. The FTC also asks for the name or RN number of a business responsible for them. Some suppliers print the importer's details on their label and others do not, so we check this for you before you buy.
The balance is settled within 5 calendar days of our pro forma invoice. Paying earlier is better, because warehouses hold reserved stock only for a short time.
Get started
Book a short interview, describe your store and your customers, and we will plan a first session around what sells for you.
Keep reading
How It Works Time Zones and Live Buying: How Remote Sessions Work From Australia to the Americas
15 August 2026
Sourcing Strategy Cruise and Early SS27: Planning the Warm-Weather Buy While You Are Buying Winter
12 September 2026
How can we assist?
See our services