MILAN — “Marni is cool.”

Coolness is high praise indeed for Renzo Rosso and the entrepreneur couldn’t be happier about Marni’s positioning and appeal at this moment.

Ahead of his trip to Recent York, where the Italian brand is for the primary time staging a fashion show on Saturday night, Rosso enthused concerning the work done thus far by creative director Francesco Risso.  

“I’m an incredible fan of Francesco, he rejuvenated Marni, attracting a recent Gen Z customer, turning it right into a very modern and young brand,” Rosso observed. “He immediately understood Marni, while it generally takes two to a few years to assimilate the DNA of a label.”

Marni is seeing strong business within the U.S., and Risso is a magnet for rappers, said Rosso. Lots of the brand’s fans and celebrities are expected on the show, starting from Iann Dior, Flo Milli and Tokischia to Kerwin Frost and Gracie Abrams. “He speaks their language, he involves them as an integral a part of the brand, and customization has grow to be a significant a part of Marni.”

Risso turned to music director Dev Hynes for the show’s soundtrack.

As reported, lots of the attendees at Marni’s Recent York fashion show might be sporting the label, because of a trove of archival items that A long time founder and luxury brands consultant Cameron Silver has already began pre-selling.

Risso’s collections are “courageous,” Rosso continued, and, along with his creativity, he’s “a talent in merchandising, as a photographer and a stylist,” envying how the designer is in tune with “the worldwide reality.”

A lot in order that the concept is for Marni shows to be itinerant, after Recent York. “We are able to bring energy and be closer to local customers. Marni is a worldwide brand, but we also need to be near the local culture and create products for specific local markets.”

Risso joined Marni in 2016, unveiling his first collection for the brand’s fall 2017 season, and succeeding the label’s artistic director Consuelo Castiglioni. In 2015, Rosso’s OTB group took full control of Marni, three years after acquiring a 61 percent stake within the Italian fashion company.

Risso, whose past experiences include the Prada Group and, previously, stints at Anna Molinari, Alessandro Dell’Acqua and Malo, has brought clashing prints, vibrant colours, deconstructed silhouettes, generous volumes and asymmetric cuts to Marni. The designer, who can be drawn to Surrealism, often injects naif or grungy vibes into the looks, which have a young and rebellious attitude.

While OTB doesn’t break out revenues by brands, market sources peg Marni sales at greater than 220 million euros, logging double-digit growth.

There are currently 90 Marni stores globally and Rosso is investing in additional units world wide.  

Through the Salone del Mobile, Marni unveiled a recent store concept with a striking flagship in Milan’s Via Montenapoleone reflecting Risso’s unique vision and aesthetics, as reported. The blueprint, which might be reflected in other stores world wide, remains to be being fine-tuned as Rosso’s intention is for the interiors to telegraph how the brand is becoming “much more luxury.”

Recent headquarters in Milan for Marni and Jil Sander, also controlled by OTB, are expected to be accomplished in early 2025, to be positioned in front of the stadium and the Olympic village, “in a improbable, strategic position.”

The agreement for the brand new locations was inked between Rosso’s Red Circle investment vehicle and COIMA, investing together in an expansive real estate complex covering round 216,000 square feet within the Porta Romana district, increasingly a favourite of the style industry, and with sustainability and ESG criteria at the middle of the project. The American studio Kohn Pedersen Fox will design the complex, and two recent buildings might be erected instead of the prevailing five industrial structures.

“Milan goes through a magic moment of transformation and development. It’s buzzing in preparation of the Winter Olympics in 2026,” said Rosso.

Marni’s business is powerful in Korea, China and Japan, and recent stores in Seoul, Tokyo and Miami’s Design District are coming up. Rosso enthused concerning the “mega” store opened in Shanghai. The Italian fashion group opened earlier this yr a significant retail development project in that city’s JC Plaza mall, positioned on Nanjing Road. The 4 street-front, two-floor store houses labels Maison Margiela, Jil Sander, Marni and Amiri, and include exhibition spaces and interactive areas. OTB controls Margiela, along with Viktor & Rolf and Diesel, and has a minority stake in Los Angeles-based Amiri.

The JC Plaza store is Jil Sander’s first flagship in Shanghai, and the primary in China to be opened after the brand was acquired by OTB in 2021.

Marni menswear is growing strongly, and the Milan boutique sells this category greater than womenswear, noted Rosso. 

The brand is performing especially well within the U.S. — and a collaboration with Kith is in stores now within the region — but Rosso said that the American market is responding thoroughly to all OTB brands.

He also spoke concerning the progress at Diesel. “What is occurring at Diesel is magical because of [creative director] Glenn [Martens], beyond my expectations,” he said of the brand, which welcomed recent chief executive officer Eraldo Poletto in July, succeeding Massimo Piombini. Together with his experience within the business, as a former Salvatore Ferragamo and Stuart Weitzman CEO, Poletto will bring “solidity” and leverage Marten’s creativity to further construct the business, which last yr accounted for 45 percent of total OTB sales.

Fashion is Rosso’s bread-and butter, but he has been increasingly taking over institutional roles. Last yr, Confindustria, Italy’s largest association representing 150,000 domestic manufacturing and repair firms, asked Rosso to be the association’s delegate for excellence, beauty and taste of Italian brands. He’s a member of the steering committee for Italy’s Camera della Moda and the Ministry of Tourism and ENIT, the national agency of tourism, chosen Rosso amongst others corresponding to chef Massimo Bottura, Olympic swimmer Federica Pellegrini, and ballet star Roberto Bolle, as ambassador of Italy in #LiveItalian, the brand new global institutional campaign which promotes the country and its beauty world wide.

Rosso has long been a supporter of Prime Minister Mario Draghi and voiced his disappointment at his resignation in July. Asked if he’s ever considered directly entering politics, Rosso said that “a few of crucial political figures on this country” have expressed their interest in having him on board, but he has thus far declined. “It’s too difficult for my mentality, I need to find a way to choose and take motion and in politics this isn’t all the time allowed.” Nonetheless, Rosso is embracing his more public role. “I like this type of exposure, since it allows me to spotlight the great thing about Italy,” he said.

He admitted that throughout the just past summer holidays he was engrossed within the news, ahead of the overall elections on Sept. 25, on the tail end of Milan Fashion Week. “I even have never followed an electoral campaign as much as this one, I used to be on vacation and I used to be checking every day what political leaders were saying but I find that, basically, they depend on slogans to get votes but there is proscribed knowledge of the problems at hand. For instance, they discuss education, they claim teachers must be hired, investments be made, but they don’t really explain how they might develop schools. There are reforms to be made before this, thorough research must be done, and education is completely the very first thing to tackle, it impacts all the things else. Too often schools aren’t international and never connected enough to reality and to the event of business, there have to be more interaction between schools and the industry. We’d like easy, yet concrete and focused vision and never just at hand over some money.“

His hope is for the brand new government “to align with international European and American realities, this could be very necessary. And whoever wins should surround themselves with competent people.”

As the value of raw materials and energy increase, impacting small and medium-sized firms and artisans particularly, he said one solution is to attach the pipeline on to the businesses, which might shoulder and support a number of the costs, integrating the provision chain.

Rosso was amongst the important thing members of Italy’s Chamber of Fashion in talks with the Italian government to receive funds of as much as 3 billion euros as a part of a right away intervention to support all of the small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Asked about this, he said that he had not seen any funds allotted to the association yet. “Actually, after the autumn of the federal government, a tax on research and development was reinstated,” he lamented.

The strong dollar could also be a positive contribution to OTB, given its international business, but Rosso admitted it’s “not good for the economy. I don’t think that is the true positioning of the euro, I hope it finds a recent balance.”  

While acknowledging the difficult macro environment, Rosso said OTB was in growth mode, and he believes costs will “not be as excessive in six months,” a forecast he made based on the bird’s-eye view he gets by investing frequently on the Stock Exchange. “Raw materials might be inexpensive in the subsequent few months,” he contended.

A public listing is within the cards for OTB, as reported, and Rosso confirmed the group is eyeing the tip of 2024 or early 2025 as possible windows for the IPO. “All our managers are aiming at reaching our objectives but we are going to go public when the moment is correct,” he said. 

Within the meantime, Rosso continues to “evaluate the numerous dossiers which can be on our desk,” which range from “big brands but in addition best-in-class artisans.” Within the latter, OTB would only take a minority stake offering the group’s technology, infrastructure, safety net and general support to develop their business.

Rosso didn’t elaborate on potential targets, but he said there are “not many truly beautiful brands to purchase, and what is gorgeous is unfortunately not on the market.”