Models Liv Walters, Maty Fall and Yang Ling deliver recognizable Missoni spirit to fall/winter 2023/24 imagery. Theo Wenner [IG] who also shot Missoni’s Spring/Summer 2023 campaign, is behind the lens, with styling by Lorenzo Posocco./ Hair by Lorenzo Barcella; makeup by Seiko Nishigori

Missoni Retains Rothschild As Financial Adviser

The Italian fashion house turned to Rothschild in late November, retaining the financial firm to pursue a potential full sale of the family-owned, Missoni fashion house.

In 2018 Italian investment fund FSI injected 70 million euros into the house, for 41% of the business, with the remaining shares held by the Missoni family.

Without specificity, Missoni Chief Executive Livio Proli referenced multiple outreaches to the Missoni brand over the summer, regarding a potential sale.

Reuters reports that in October 2023 Proli addressed the issue of a potential sale, saying there could be definite advantages.

"We are convinced that whether the Missoni brand continues alone or with the resources and synergies of a large group, it must remain very focused on its specific craftsmanship", he said at the time.

In August, Proli projected revenues of 125 million euros ($135.84 million) in 2023, up from 115 million in 2022. The CEO estimated adjusted core profit in 2022 at around 5 million euros last year.

From AOC’s angle of vision, the Italian heritage brands have never been so desirable — and from a cultural-creatives, values-based proposition, not modern values which say “s[he] who wears the most wealth on her back wins.”

Etro and Pucci Look Good out of the Gate

The financial resurrection of Pucci by LVMH and under the leadership of visionary Creative Director Camille Miceli cannot go unnoticed.

LVMH is holding the financial stakes in Etro, via its investment arm L Catterton. Etro is in motion now.

The investment house has made few mistakes in recent years, and we are entering a space where $100 million annual revenue brands simply do not have the financial resources to compete with the conglomerates.

Missoni’s Proli as much as acknowledged this reality in October.

Gucci 4.0 Is the Unknown Horse in the Race

With Pucci flourishing and also showing in Rome next April 2024 — after Gucci pulled the design studio out of Rome and has opened an uber-modern new store in Milan — the Gucci heritage door is left wide open for hurting hearts.

AOC’s position is that “timeless luxury” — Gucci’s new branding plank — belongs to Loro Piana and Brunello Cuccinelli, not this Gucci 4.0 reboot.

They are humanists, for goddesses sake. The visual above remains the landing page of Brunello Cucinelli international.

There’s genuine philosophical depth in “timeless luxury” today and a sustainable track record. Add a decade-long revamp of Ralph Lauren to the “timeless luxury” track.

Ralph was stuck in an identity void before, but not now.

These timeless luxury brands actually have a decades-long philosophy behind them that is perfectly in sync with today’s scared, aching-hearts, can’t we find some love for each other, climate-imperiled-world citizens.

“Timeless luxury” is not some branding buzz word today, Gucci.

Horse Racing Is a Spectator Sport

But hey — that’s why horse raising gives us a thrill. When you least suspect it, some filly runs wild from the back of the pack and starts passing all the stallions and then gallops over the finish line.

AOC does see Gucci as the filly and not the stallion in this horse race. Actually Gucci’s a mare, not a filly [max four years old.] A mare should have real values.

With Pucci and Etro already lining up against Gucci 3.0, it’s probably do or die time for Missoni.

And if Gucci isn’t dead-right with this bold 4.0 move — and they don’t destroy YSL in the process — we have one heck of a horse race on our hands.

Of course, Gucci also has to contend with the very deep pockets of Zegna and Estee Lauder, who have a superb stallion brand Tom Ford. No learning curve there for Peter Hawkings.

AOC is counting original Gucci 1.0; Tom Ford Gucci 2.0; Michele Alessandro Gucci 3.0 and now Sabato De Sarno 4.0.

Alright, Missoni. Show us what you’ve got!

Just leave “timeless luxury” in the paddock, if you can’t identify what it offers beyond lip service for an aching-hearts world. ~ Anne