23/07/2021 – For a while’ of time the hypothesis of the establishment of an Italian luxury pole re-emerges from time to time, hypothesis supported by several parties with the aim of countering the acquisition campaign of Italian brands by foreign investors, as well as to give a greater national identity to the most iconic and prestigious productions.
The names at stake, between who could be the architect of the operation and who could lead it to port from a managerial point of view, they are prominent, from Armani to Prada-Bertelli, from EXOR (holding company of the Agnelli family) to Renzo Rosso (Diesel OTB) and Remo Ruffini (Moncler), all potentially able in terms of ability and resources, to play a decisive role in the unification of the big names in the Italian high-end industry.
The operation tends to emulate those conducted over the years by large international and French groups, like LVMH for example, which with Bernald Arnault at the helm he has managed to aggregate over the years 75 maison in the five most important sectors of the luxury market: Wines and Spirits, Fashion and leather goods, Perfumes and Cosmetics, Watches and Jewellery, Selective distribution.
But in the case of our luxury made-in-Italy it is not so obvious that such an aggregation can really be a response to what the market wants. Different production logics, strong dependence of the big names on highly specialized and traditional small suppliers, financial dynamics that are difficult to manage in the context of unique group strategies, but also a different perception of made-in-Italy by the market, made up of luxury concepts more linked to experience and the territory, than to the individual company itself, communication by many companies that is not easily addressed towards group standards, precisely because of that strong territorial identity that made-in-Italy carries with it, very different from a hypothetical made-in-France which, moreover, is not so identifying.
And protection from foreign investments today need not necessarily be considered an evil. International investors have often been able to relaunch and strengthen Italian companies in full respect of the national identity and values on which success has been built (see Automobili Lamborghini with VW Audi group), on the contrary, putting them to value in the corporate and financial strategy.
Therefore, an idea of a luxury polo seems to us to be more of a proclamation than a successful project, where the basic idea can equally be pursued by focusing on other strategies that allow for the strengthening and consolidation of the Italian spirit of the brands and their way of being Italian, regardless of the corporate and financial aspects that, at this point, in the global context, they require significant resources and highly international distribution capabilities.
The debate is open!
