Prada brings Versace home to create Italian luxury contender

By Elisa Anzolin

MILAN (Reuters) - Prada's woody to bargain Versace revives hopes for a 'Made successful Italy' luxury champion aft galore different family-founded brands ended up successful French, Swiss oregon U.S. hands, and comes arsenic galore Italian groups are outperforming the struggling sector.

The $1.375 cardinal woody brings 1 of fashion's best-known Italian labels backmost nether Italian power aft it was sold to U.S-listed Capri Holdings, past known arsenic Michael Kors, for $2.15 cardinal including indebtedness successful 2018.

Despite Italy accounting for 50% to 55% of planetary idiosyncratic luxury goods production, according to consultancy Bain's estimates, the state lacks a radical with a standard that matches up to French players specified arsenic LVMH and Gucci-owner Kering.

Milan-based Prada, controlled by decorator Miuccia Prada and hubby Patrizio Bertelli and listed successful Hong Kong with a marketplace capitalisation of astir 14 cardinal euros ($15 billion), is the largest Italian luxury manner radical by revenue.

But the group, which besides includes the fast-growing Miu Miu label, has been a comparative minnow successful presumption of banal marketplace valuation compared with the likes of Louis Vuitton-owner LVMH.

The Versace woody comes aft Andrea Guerra became Prada's CEO successful 2023 to span a alteration successful generation, with Lorenzo Bertelli, the lad of the company's main owners and its main selling officer, regarded arsenic the heir apparent.

"Prada's ambition to go a starring Italian luxury conglomerate is simply a important determination successful a marketplace that is dominated by French groups. It's precisely what galore Italians person been hoping for", said Achim Berg, a manner and luxury manufacture adviser.

The combined gross of the 5 biggest Italian-owned listed luxury groups - Prada, Moncler, Ermenegildo Zegna, Brunello Cucinelli and Ferragamo - is inactive good beneath Kering's astir 17 cardinal euros, adjacent aft a large autumn successful income astatine the French radical past year.

Company laminitis Brunello Cucinelli summed up the quality successful attack connected the 2 sides of the Alps successful typically colourful fashion.

"Our esteemed French counterparts are large financiers," helium told the Milano Fashion Global Summit 2024 past October.

"But we Italians respect our 'tiny big' companies arsenic if they were our small children, truthful we privation to look aft them and manus them down to a adjacent generation," helium added.

AMBITIOUS MOVE

While LVMH and Kering person swallowed galore Italian brands, adjacent the larger Italian groups person until present been comparatively reluctant to marque large acquisitions.

"This acquisition represents Prada's superior effort to physique a radical - and a overmuch much ambitious 1 compared to their past ventures with Helmut Lang and Jil Sander," Berg said.