EXCLUSIVE: Missoni CEO on Three-year Plan, U.S. and Menswear Investments, Deflates Sale Rumors
Luisa Zargani
6 min read
MILAN — Missoni “has found its center of gravity” and is staying the course, according to chief executive officer Livio Proli.
In an exclusive interview, acknowledging the “very difficult past few years,” Proli expressed his confidence in the “still enormous potential” of the brand, leveraging the work done so far, which he believes will deliver further growth.
Missoni closed 2023 with a 10 percent increase in sales, which amounted to 126 million euros. Revenues have doubled compared to 2019, Proli said.
“For the first time in years Missoni returned profitable, showing a positive EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization], that has improved versus last year. This trend of growth is expected to continue in 2024,” he said.
Sales since the beginning of the year until April were up 2.5 percent and Proli said he was also proud of the company’s “improved system of deliveries.”
As part of the restructuring, Proli has been raising the luxury positioning of Missoni, focusing on the signature line and closing all others, including M Missoni in 2021.
The executive set the record straight, following months of speculation about the future of the company and rumors that Rothschild had been tapped to explore a potential sale. “I am working on a three-year plan, agreed upon with the shareholders in December,” said the executive, who first joined Missoni in May 2020.
The Missoni family has a 58.8 percent stake in the company and investment fund FSI the remaining 41.2 percent, acquired in 2018. “There is great alignment between the parties, and yes, they believe the company can still grow, but I have never felt a push to grow just for the sake of it and there is no obsession over KPIs.” Missoni marked 70 years in business in 2023 and Proli said “there is every intention to develop it for at least another 70 years, leading it with care and attention.”
A first sign that the fund had no intention to divest was the acquisition in March of Tricotex, a leading manufacturer of high-end textiles, to secure continuity to Missoni’s supply chain by acquiring one of its longstanding suppliers.
Based in Gallarate, in the outskirts of Milan and near Missoni‘s headquarters, the company specializes in Raschel knit fabrics — a Missoni signature — made with special Caperdoni looms rather than industrial knitting machines and defined by a textured appearance, “similar to a bas-relief, adding movement and dynamism” to designs, Proli explained. This is helping to protect the identity of Missoni’s production and “to be even more daring and creative.”
Inside the new Missoni store in Milan.
Now, another significant step is the investment in Missoni’s menswear. The brand will be present at Pitti Uomo later this month as it turns its attention to the category, “which had not been a priority of late, because we needed to focus and develop our womenswear and our lifestyle concept, including our home collection,” the executive said.
Menswear is designed by an in-house team, while Filippo Grazioli will continue to design Missoni’s womenswear and Proli said “we felt the need to commit with a small division exclusively dedicated to menswear.”
He revealed the team is turning to cofounder Ottavio, known as Tai, Missoni for inspiration, “respecting his values and style. He was the best brand ambassador, he had charisma, he was an artist, who created the brand’s beautiful color combinations.” His wife and cofounder Rosita Missoni and their son Luca have been instrumental in “recovering memories, stories and details” related to the late designer, who died in 2013 at age 92.
So much so, that Proli plans to launch a collection dubbed “Inspired by Tai” with the fall 2025 season, most likely in Milan.
In the meantime, Pitti Uomo will be a solid launchpad “because it allows us to talk to the trade and start to create a community.”
Developing the American market is another key focus for 2024 and 2025, Proli said. “There is a very strong brand awareness in the U.S., which represents 40 percent of our online sales.” Missoni took its e-commerce platform in-house last September and the company is opening a warehouse in New York dedicated to buying and logistics.
A new CEO for the U.S. subsidiary will be revealed in September to succeed Giacomo Missoni. Proli praised the work of that executive for developing the local structure and business but said the son of the late Vittorio Missoni was looking to return to Italy.
In the U.S., a franchised store opened in Las Vegas in December, an addition to the existing New York, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif., and Miami boutiques.
“We are also working with department stores on personalizing corners and points of sale for increased visibility,” Proli said.
Business in the Middle East is also “flying,” in an agreement with Al Tayer and, following the recent opening of a second boutique at Dubai’s Mall of Emirates, stores will soon open in Kuwait and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Livio Proli
A new two-level store in Milan’s Via Verri is introducing a new blueprint, but the venue will be officially inaugurated in September.
A store in Puerto Banús, Spain, opened in November.
There are 24 directly operated Missoni stores, and Proli said last year the company received several requests from potential franchisees, signaling a strong interest in the brand.
In fact, in 2024 stores opened in Montecarlo, Thessalonìki, Mykonos and Santorini, and an outlet was unveiled in Vienna.
By the end of the year or in early 2025 a store dedicated to Missoni Home will open in Milan’s Via Solferino, in the arty Brera district, opposite the division’s showroom.
The home category has always been important for the brand, and last year it accounted for 30 percent of sales. In 2020, Missoni bought out T&J Vestor, its licensee for the Missoni Home collections, building on a partnership kicked off in 1983.
Missoni has recently inked several contract agreements, including for example the Missoni Baia residences in Miami with developer OKO Group, a tower of 350 apartments which is in a handover phase.
The interiors of the residential projects are envisioned by Alberto Caliri, creative director of the Missoni Home collection, which is supervised by Rosita Missoni.
Urban Oasis Dubai
With luxury real estate developer Dar Global, Missoni has provided interiors for the Urban Oasis, in Dubai, a tower of 500 apartments, and for the Marea residential project in the south of Spain, 80 apartments within the golf club of Finca Cortesin, near Marbella, which is being built now.
With Brazilian developer Gafisa, Missoni is working on a project in S?o Paulo, comprising 16 luxury apartments in the city’s Itaim Bibi 5 and, with Durar, on the Moonstone project, 255 beach front apartments in Ras al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates. Three additional projects are in the pipeline and will be revealed by the end of the year, Proli said.
