The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Rome-based Valentino’s revenues fell to €882 million million last year, but the company says it saw a “rosy upturn” in the fourth quarter as it seeks to bounce back from the pandemic under new CEO Jacopo Venturini.
Sales on Valentino’s e-commerce site jumped 77 percent last year, while retail sales in Mainland China rose 44 percent.
But those bright spots weren’t enough to offset the impact from store closures and travel restrictions. Valentino’s 27 percent drop in sales was deeper than the impacts reported by luxury groups Kering and LVMH in recent weeks.
Following a “crippling” impact from the coronavirus crisis during the first half, wholesale orders for its pre-fall 2021 collection revealed in December were in line with 2019 levels, the company said, marking a 25 percent improvement versus the pre-spring items revealed in July.
The pre-fall collection, which dug into Valentino’s 1970s heritage with printed caftans and palazzo pants and was the first one designed under the brand’s turnaround plan, “has positively impacted global business” already according to chairman Rachid Mohamed Rachid.
The Hood By Air co-founder’s ready-to-wear capsule for the Paris-based perfume and fashion house will be timed to coincide with the Met Gala in New York.
Revenues fell on a reported basis, confirming sector-wide fears that luxury demand would continue to slow.
IWC’s chief executive says it will keep leaning into its environmental message. But the watchmaker has scrapped a flagship sustainability report, and sustainability was less of a focus overall at this year’s Watches and Wonders Geneva.
The larger-than-life Italian designer, who built a fashion empire based on his own image, died in Florence last Friday.