Diesel founder Renzo Rosso has laid out a plan to consolidate Italy's luxury sector. The Italian billionaire has appealed to small fashion businesses, asking them to work together to prevent further losses to foreign players.
By grouping Italian businesses together, he argues that they will become more competitive, facilitating technological growth and the capacity for a more sustainable industry. Bloomberg reports that Rosso is advocating for something akin to the French model, which has powerful presiding companies such as LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE and Kering SA.
Despite its impressive stable of luxury brands, Italy lacks industry standard-bearers — companies that might have prevented foreign acquisitions such as Micheal Kors buying Gianni Versace in 2018.
According to Rosso, some small companies “won’t be able to sustain the costs of digital development, won’t get a deal with big online platforms.” In an interview, he explained that “some fashion companies will need to accept partnerships, and these alliances will give them the visibility they never had before.”
Meanwhile, Bloomberg notes that LVMH has its sights on a number of Italian mainstays. The French fashion house already owns the Bulgari and Fendi labels and now, following a raised stake in Tod’s SpA, LVMH looks poised to move on the Italian shoemaker.
Rosso’s Only the Brave holding company OTB has itself acquired a collection of fashion brands recently —including Maison Margiela, Viktor&Rolf, Marni and Jil Sander.
