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Tag: Sergio Rossi

  • Lanvin Group Narrows First-Half Loss to €34.6 Million as Store Closures Bite

    Lanvin Group Narrows First-Half Loss to €34.6 Million as Store Closures Bite

    Shanghai-based Lanvin Group narrowed its first-half adjusted EBITDA loss to €34.6 million as store closures and restructuring outpaced a 12.9 per cent revenue drop to €100.8 million.

    The New York-listed luxury group cut its adjusted EBITDA loss from €52.2 million a year earlier, achieving its first period since listing where operating cuts exceeded top-line decline. The prior-year base excludes Italian tailor Caruso, which the company sold in February to Abu Dhabi-backed MondeVita.

    Management closed 23 directly operated stores during the six months to June 30, bringing its active boutique network down to 151 sites. Over the past 18 months, the company has eliminated 74 stores from a peak of 225, cutting its physical footprint by a third to curb overhead.

    Mixed fortunes across four fashion houses

    St John overtook the namesake maison to become the group’s largest revenue contributor, generating €35.5 million. While that represented a 10.5 per cent decline in euros, sales fell roughly 5 per cent in US dollars, helped by a 31 per cent jump in e-commerce. Chief commercial officer Mandy West, promoted in March, will roll out two capsule collections during the second half.

    Austrian skinwear label Wolford delivered €31.0 million, down 6 per cent. Direct-to-consumer sales slipped 2 per cent while e-commerce expanded 22 per cent, lifting gross margin four percentage points to 60 per cent following the resolution of earlier supply chain bottlenecks. Marco Pozzo took over leadership of the brand in February.

    Revenue at flagship house Lanvin slid 17.9 per cent to €22.9 million, making it the group’s third-largest unit. Barbara Werschine took charge as chief executive in May following stints at Hermès and Eric Bompard, while designer Peter Copping presented his winter 2026 collection in Paris. Footwear brand Sergio Rossi remained the weakest unit, tumbling 28.6 per cent to €10.9 million after artistic director Paul Andrew departed in January and the business phased out third-party manufacturing contracts.

    Asset-light transition across global operations

    Chinese luxury groups that expanded through European acquisitions have spent the past two years paring down overhead to adjust to weaker global wholesale demand. Greater China generated 8.1 per cent of Lanvin Group’s sales last year, leaving the company heavily exposed to European and American department store channels where foot traffic has softened. Trimming company-owned real estate while shifting brands toward licensing mirrors the defensive posture adopted by mid-tier European fashion houses.

    Chairman Zhen Huang expects the broader corporate transformation to wrap up before the end of the year. The group is now preparing second-half wholesale deliveries and expanding asset-light franchise partnerships across Sergio Rossi and Lanvin.

  • Covit-19 virus claims famed shoe designer Sergio Rossi

    Covit-19 virus claims famed shoe designer Sergio Rossi

    Italian shoe designer Sergio Rossi has succumbed to the coronavirus at the age of 84.

    The celebrated figure of the fashion world died on April 2 within days of being hospitalized for the illness. His death was announced by the current CEO of the eponymous brand, who called him a spiritual guide – today more than ever.

    In a tribute to the designer, the New York Times described him as renowned for his “spindly heels and designer collaborations” and “part of the postwar generation that transformed Italian fashion”.

    Rossi was a shoemaker’s son born in a small Italian town, learning the craft of bespoke footwear making from childhood. He founded his own label in 1968. He became a household name in the industry following a series of collaborations with top fashion labels, including Dolce & Gabbana and Versace.

    Rossi’s business was bought by Gucci Group – which later became Kering – in 1999 for about $96 million, but Rossi remained design director and chairman. Kering sold the brand to private-equity company Investindustrial in 2015, which relaunched Sergio Rossi in 2016.

    Rossi’s signature curved sole shoe, the Opanca, remains his foremost legacy in the trade.

    “With the unquenchable fire of your passion, you taught us that there are no limits for those who love what they do,” read a tribute from Rossi’s son, also a shoe designer. “Goodbye maestro.”

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  • Vogue opens first Tokyo wedding dress salon

    Vogue opens first Tokyo wedding dress salon

    International fashion magazine Vogue has opened its first wedding dress salon. Facing Aoyama Kotto-dori in Tokyo’s Omotesando district, the salon has hired specialist staff to offer tasteful suggestions not only with regard to dresses and accessories but also extending to hair, makeup and photography services.“The biggest single keyword for contemporary today’s weddings is ‘diversification of values’”, said Vogue Wedding creative director Mayumi Nakamura. “Now is a time for brides who embrace different values to rejoice in their individuality.

     

    “At Vogue Wedding Salon, in addition to traditional wedding dresses, we have prepared a wide variety of more adventurous styles. These items include stunning bridal gowns from popular designer brands that will be familiar to readers of Vogue such as Alexander McQueen, Giambattista Valli, Oscar de la Renta, Sergio Rossi, and so on. I hope that at Vogue Wedding Salon you will enjoy choosing a stylish dress that is not bound by existing rules.

    View the gallery below (4 images) :

    In addition to traditional wedding dresses, visitors can expect to encounter a variety of fashionably styled modern dresses selected by Vogue and created by top international designers based in the world’s fashion capitals beginning with Paris, New York, Milan, and London. Visitors will find a lineup of popular luxury bridal gown brands, as well as a selection of brands that are available exclusively from Vogue Wedding Salon.

    The salon is also equipped with a photo space where aspiring brides and grooms can take advantage of Vogue’s wedding photography services.

    In addition to wedding dresses, an extensive range of eveningwear and luxury brand shoes and accessories are available. The salon can also offer customers a luxury shoe brand custom order service.

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  • Alibaba Group sales jumps high

    Alibaba Group sales jumps high

    Alibaba Group sales soared 41 per cent in the December quarter as its customer based neared 700 million. The Chinese company’s turnover for the three months reached US$17.057 billion and its net income attributable to shareholders $4.807 billion. “Our resilient operating and financial performance is a direct reflection of our persistent focus on better serving our growing base of nearly 700 million consumers across retail, digital entertainment and local consumer services,” said CEO Daniel Zhang. “Our growth is also driven by the power of Alibaba’s cloud and data technology that helps expedite the digital transformation of millions of enterprises.”

    Alibaba group sales from core commerce increased 40 per cent to $14.958 billion, while the cloud-computing division posted 84 per cent growth, turning over $962 million. The digital media and entertainment division achieved 20 per cent growth to reach $944 million.

    In a statement, Alibaba said its Taobao platform achieved “robust user growth and enhanced engagement”. Last December, its China retail marketplaces had 699 million mobile monthly average users, representing a quarterly net increase of 33 million. The annual active consumers on its China retail marketplaces was 636 million for the 12 months ended December 31, compared to 601 million for the 12 months ended September 30 last year, “reflecting successful user acquisition programs, such as referrals through the Alipay app”.

    More than 70 per cent of the increase in annual active consumers was from third-and-lower tier cities.

    Tmall thrives

    Alibaba said GMV on its Tmall business grew 29 per cent year on year in the December quarter, outpacing the industry.

    “This robust growth was driven by strength in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), apparel and home furnishing categories,” the company said.

    During the quarter, Tmall signed up new brands to the platform including Valentino, Ermenegildo Zegna, Stuart Weitzman and Sergio Rossi which opened flagship stores and joined the Tmall Luxury Pavilion.

    Meanwhile, Alibaba’s proprietary grocery retail chain Freshippo (formerly Hema) continued to expand its footprint, “optimise its stores and introduce new initiatives that improve customer experience”. As of December 31, there were 109 self-operated Freshippo stores in China, primarily located in tier 1 and tier 2 cities, which continued to achieve “robust same-store sales growth” through the quarter.

    ‘Robust’ Lazada growth

    Alibaba’s Southeast Asian e-commerce platform Lazada achieved what the company described as “robust growth” in GMV. The company upgraded Lazada’s technology, which resulted in boosting the number of active users and achieved greater user engagement on Lazada’s mobile app.

    “We continue to invest resources to integrate Lazada’s business and technology operations into Alibaba with the aim of building a strong foundation for us to extend our offerings in Southeast Asia.”

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  • Sergio Rossi redefines the power pump

    Sergio Rossi redefines the power pump

    “It is a new definition of the power pump,” is how celebrity stylist Elizabeth Stewart describes styles from her capsule collection with Sergio Rossi. Stewart, who counts Julia Roberts and Viola Davis among her clients, celebrated the launch of the collaboration Thursday in Los Angeles at the Italian luxury brand’s pop-up store at Westfield Century City.

    Pumps and sandals in black, red and light pink are emblazoned with empowering words like “strength,” “hope,” “kindness” and “sharing.” The messages are meant to give women a chance to embrace style, substance and solidarity, with 100 percent of sales supporting Time’s Up, an organization dedicated to women’s safety and equality in the workplace.

    “I wanted the shoes to be a sort of a talisman for the wearer,” Stewart told Footwear News at the event. “First it was ‘strength’ and ‘power’. The idea being you can go on a job interview and you put them on and it gives you strength, but also I don’t want to forget things that women want to be, like kind and sharing. It’s a reminder and source of strength.”

    Sergio Rossi Group CEO Riccardo Sciutto said working with Stewart on the collection was an organic process as she has had a longtime relationship styling her famous clients in the brand’s shoes.

    “When you get trust, the relationship is stronger and it’s easy to do something together all the time,” Sciutto said, adding that it’s the label’s first time supporting a social movement issue.

    Though the words and messages on the shoes were easy to conceive, rendering them on the shoes proved to be a challenge. Initially, Serigo Rossi designers tried to emboss the verbiage, but the production technique used to pull the leather material made the words unreadable, Sciutto explained. To achieve the desired effect, the designers created a special technique to print the words in a slightly different but matching color on the material.

    Along with Stewart’s capsule, which is sold exclusively at the store through March 6, the space also features 37 different styles from Sergio Rossi’s resort ’19 and spring ’19 collections, as well as a customization bar.

    The temporary digs are a part of Sciutto’s retail expansion strategy in the American market. “Half of the business is in Asia, and the rest is split between Europe and America. America is the opportunity. It’s the smallest market for us,” he added.

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  • Luxba Group selected as the new partner for Sergio Rossi

    Luxba Group selected as the new partner for Sergio Rossi

    A new strategic partnership with brand management company Luxba Group will help Sergio Rossi open franchise stores across China.

    Following a full relaunch, the Italian women’s luxury shoe company has also signed an agreement with Hong Kong billionaire entrepreneur Adrian Chen to help achieve growth in China.

    Sergio Rossi last year closed its 10 franchise stores in China it had opened with another distributor. In changing partners, it hopes to make a “solid relaunch” in the country.

    “We chose a partner with the resources, experience and a vision in line with ours to help us go further,” says Sergio Rossi CEO Riccardo Sciutto. “The Luxba Group, with Adrian’s network, makes for such a partnership.”

    Details of the agreement have not been disclosed.

    Cheng, who is also executive director of jewellery manufacturer/retailer Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, six months ago launched C Ventures with the aim of creating a stable of brands and digital platforms specifically aimed at millennials and generation Z, a target market for Sergio Rossi. Already the venture has attracted brands like Disquared2 and Moschino.

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