MAROSTICA, Italy — One may remember Renzo Rosso’s Dieselito line within the ’80s, which was Diesel’s children’s collection conceived by the brand’s founder for his own offspring.

“Mothers just loved those mini-me Diesel clothes, also because back then the offer was either mass market looks or ceremony and occasion wear,” reminisced Rosso.

Dieselito was then named Diesel Kid and kids’s wear specialist Brave Kid, controlled by Rosso’s OTB Group, stems from that initial desire to enterprise further into the segment. It has grown to supply several of the style group’s brands, including Diesel, Marni and MM6 Maison Margiela — the most recent addition, which began with the autumn 2021 collection.

Brave Kid, which relies in Marostica, a couple of one-hour drive from Venice, also produces children’s collections for Dsquared2, N.21 and MYAR, a line created by Rosso’s son Andrea with products which are entirely upcycled.

Germano Ferraro, Brave Kid’s chief executive officer, was formerly Diesel’s industrial director, recalled Rosso during an interview at the corporate’s headquarters here.

“Germano desired to have his own entrepreneurial experience, so he became my partner with a ten percent stake and, when in 2000 I purchased Staff International, which had a pleasant portfolio of brands, the thought was to develop the kids’s lines for those labels and we arrange Brave Kid,” Rosso said. Staff International back then produced and distributed collections for the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Emanuel Ungaro in addition to Maison Margiela, amongst others.

Brave Kid has been growing steadily, with revenues increasing 25 percent in 2022 and expected to succeed in greater than 70 million euros compared with the previous 12 months. In 2021 sales rose 23 percent compared with 2020, based on Rosso.

Rosso underscored that Brave Kid interprets the creative vision of every brand’s designer and said he would really like so as to add a children’s collection for Jil Sander, which OTB bought last 12 months. “We’re working on that, we’ve done some tests with cashmere [looks], we would like to keep up the high range and I feel it’ll eventually occur,” said Rosso.

After taking up the N.21 collection, designed by Alessandro Dell’Acqua, he also didn’t rule out the arrival of other licenses, in the event that they fit with the “homogeneous positioning with no overlapping” at the corporate. He also highlighted the increased contractual power Brave Kid has as a singular organization in Italy.

In response to a report issued in June by Centro Studi di Confindustria Moda for association SMI Sistema Moda Italia, children’s wear revenues in 2021 closed up 15.5 percent to three.05 billion euros. Exports represented 42.8 percent of total sales.

There may be an increased demand for the event of kids’s wear brands, Rosso said, particularly in the luxurious range, citing more floors dedicated to kids’ wear in malls and the growing mini-me trend. “Also, parents enjoy showing that their children wear specific brands they themselves appreciate for his or her values and aesthetics,” he mused. 

Brave Kid produces 2 million garments a 12 months, and the boys category represents 60 percent of sales, although Rosso noted that the Maison Margiela designs are genderless and that the unisex trend is growing.

Brave Kid has introduced a latest automation system at its warehouse that enables shipments and deliveries of the collections to be way more efficient. This pilot project is predicted to be replicated in other OTB warehouses.

A walk-through of the warehouse, which spans over 48,600 square feet and stocks around 900,000 pieces, is impressive, with its use of twenty-two robots and space optimization, because it is developed vertically as much as the ceiling over 13 levels with reduced volumes.

The advantages include speedy training to make use of the system — in lower than one hour an worker who is just not specialized can learn all of its functions. Robots don’t need lights or heating, so the situation absorbs the identical energy as a household appliance. Operating through 24 hours, employees are granted safer conditions, said Rosso. Every thing is integrated in an evolved software system that’s in a position to measure the performance in real time and the productivity of operators has doubled.

The warehouse, which in November packed up around 190,000 pieces, employs 23 people, of whom 75 percent are women. “This is absolutely a sophisticated and futuristic system,” enthused Rosso. Brave Kid counts a complete of 120 employees, of whom 80 percent are women.

Starting with the autumn 2023 season, the corporate is presenting the collections in a latest showroom in Milan in Via Savona. It covers 10,800 square feet and was the previous Staff International showroom, now entirely dedicated to Brave Kid and where each brand has its own exhibition space.

A dedicated online site was launched last 12 months.

Italy, Japan, U.K. and South Korea are the most important markets without delay, however the U.S. can be growing steadily. Diesel represents 30 percent of Brave Kid’s sales, said Rosso.

Rosso predicted that the high-end range of the style industry will have the ability to higher weather 2023, which is able to, nonetheless, be marked by rising costs, inflation, less wealth and more unemployment, and that some firms may close.

For OTB – which, along with Brave Kid, Staff International, the Diesel, Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, Marni and Viktor & Rolf brands, has a minority stake in Amiri – Rosso expects to proceed to post double-digit growth in 2023, based on the orders for the 12 months.

As reported, in 2021, OTB’s turnover, including royalties, totaled 1.53 billion euros (excluding nonrecurring revenues of 130 million euros), up 16.2 percent compared with 2020. Net sales totaled 1.45 billion euros, up 18 percent compared with 2020.

“We’re serious, we deliver on time, we’ve got credibility and we’ve strengthened our relationships with clients during COVID-19, so we’ve got been seeing a positive return,” explained Rosso.

He admitted 2023 “may very well be 12 months to bring home more acquisitions but those brands or firms have to be in sync with the OTB philosophy. ‘What can we bring to the brand’ is the query I all the time ask myself.”

He confirmed the goal to publicly list OTB, possibly in 2024, as reported, but in addition depending on the markets. “We’ll do it for transparency and for succession reasons, but when the multiples are interesting because we’ve got no need for money, we are able to work with our own resources. I even have set my objectives to our managers for the IPO, but I won’t say what that revenue figure is. When that will likely be reached, it may very well be the tip of 2024 or early 2025,” Rosso said.

Asked about working with the brand new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who succeeded Mario Draghi in October, Rosso had positive comments to share. “I feel she has matured, she has a program and is endorsing it and she or he is acting responsibly, reconsidering her ideas if she understands they could not work. I’m very confident,” said Rosso, who reiterated his praise for Draghi for “the prestige and consideration he dropped at the country.”