Compagnie Financière Richemont SA Acquires Controlling Stake In Gianvito Rossi

PARIS, FRANCE — Compagnie Financière Richemont has acquired a controlling stake in Italian high-end footwear brand Gianvito Rossi.

In recent years, casual and athletic shoes have been a principal focus for many big luxury brands, “we see that elegant footwear is going to be very strongly accelerating going forward,” Philippe Fortunato, chief executive officer of Richemont’s fashion and accessories maisons, told WWD in an exclusive interview.

The Swiss luxury group, best known for its brands including Cartier, Montblanc, Chloé, Alaïa, Dunhill, Peter Millar, AZ Factory, Purdey and Serapian is also a believer in the “quiet luxury” trend that has been sweeping the market — and the potential for specialist shoe maisons.

“The high-end footwear market is going to be a very important frontier of development in luxury. We see fundamental trends on customers buying more and more shoes,” Fortunato said in a joint interview with Rossi.

Rossi wish to devote more energies to designing and developing handmade shoes that are as “pleasant” to wear as they are to look at and hold as objects.

“I was looking for a partner that could help me create a retail network worldwide, at a very, very high level and offering great service to our clients,” he said.

Today the brand operates 36 boutiques in cities including Rome, Paris, Monte Carlo, London, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Dubai, Doha, Beijing, Chongqing and Chengdu.

Wholesale clients include Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Bergdorf Goodman and Net-a-porter.

Fortunato hinted at product expansion, with handbags and leather goods the first categories tackled.

It is understood the company is well managed and profitable.

Rossi founded his namesake brand in 2006 in San Mauro Pascoli, Italy, after spending years studying shoemaking under his footwear-guru father Sergio Rossi. He opened the first freestanding Gianvito Rossi store in Milan in 2008.

Photos Credit: Gianvito Rossi’s Instagram

Source: WWD