Ferragamo chairman won't sell brand

Ferruccio Ferragamo, chairman of Italian luxury house Salvatore Ferragamo, won't be parting ways with his beloved family namesake anytime soon. At the brand's fall/winter 2019 runway show at Milan Fashion Week, Ferragamo said, "I’m in love with this company and it’s not for sale." A sale of Ferragamo would make a holding company very happy, as it is one of the few independent luxury brands left with such a global name. Alas, that's not in the cards anytime soon.

By very recent actions of the company, it was clear that a sale was not on the table. They recently promoted Paul Andrew, who was their womenswear designer, to the role of creative director where he would oversee the whole brand. Currently at the business helm of Ferragamo is CEO Micaela Le Divelec Lemmi, a former finance chief at Kering.

The businesswoman has plans to boost Ferragamo's international visibility, as well as turning the brick-and-mortar stores into a more immersive shopping experience. The Ferragamo name carries a lot of weight, even among millennial consumers, who value experiences over just acquiring material things. Divelec Lemmi's strategy comes at a time when millennials are finally getting more disposable income.

One of the main goals of the brand right now is to try and win over the younger luxury consumers. They unfortunately missed the initial Chinese luxury wave that helped many of the LVMH and Kering owned luxury brands increase their sales, so now they are playing catch up. Their Chinese retail sales did see an increase of 7.6 percent in Q4 of 2018.

Ferragamo's shares have fallen 43 percent since their 2015 peak as reported by Business of Fashion, so they are trying to engineer a turnaround for the brand. Andrew is determined to help the brand bring in new customers though. "We have a very loyal customer base that I can’t ignore,” He said to Business of Fashion after the Milan runway show. “I have to keep them engaged while we try to bring in a new generation.”

If Capri Holdings thought they found their next luxury Italian fashion brand to acquire after Versace, they can think again.

photo: via Ferragamo.com