Dondup on afterburner as Matteo Marzotto acquires stake

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Sep 19, 2016

Dondup is stepping on the gas. The Italian upmarket denim brand announced that Matteo Marzotto has acquired a stake in the company. He was also appointed President, while Marco Casoni became the label's CEO. Dondup is also about to open its first directly owned store, in Milan's central luxury district. The company currently generates a revenue of €55 million, 80% of which outside Italy, and is targeting €90 million by 2020.
 

Dondup was founded in 1999 in Fossombrone, in central Italy's Marche region, by Massimo Berloni and his wife Manuela Mariotti, the label's creative director.

In 2010 the label moved up a gear as the L Capital investment fund, linked to French group LVMH, became a shareholder. The investment fund has now become L Catterton and remains Dondup's majority shareholder with a 93% stake, via its twin Asian fund L Capital Asia. Dondup is now entering a new phase, with a strategic five-year plan.

Until now, Massimo Berloni owned a 7% stake in Dondup via his company Arcadia. Dondup's founder has now become honorary president and has sold part of his stake to Matteo Marzotto, heir to the famous textile manufacturing dynasty, who in the past was notably active in the relaunch of Valentino and Madeleine Vionnet. No details were disclosed about the amount of the transaction, nor about the exact value of Matteo Marzotto's stake.

 
Marzotto's arrival coincided with that of Marco Casoni, who was appointed CEO as a successor to Carlo Morfini. Casoni has a 25-year experience in fashion, as a luxury label director (Vionnet and Marni among others) and as strategic adviser to Calvin Klein Europe and Fendi.
 
He will be supported by Matteo Anchisi, who stepped down as Managing Director of Drumohr to take charge of marketing and sales at Dondup.
 
The ready-to-wear label initially and for a long time specialised in denim, relying on the quality and wearability of its jeans and on its research on fabrics and colours. It then broadened the range, creating a total look for women, men and children.
 
Dondup then began to reposition itself as an upmarket brand, focusing on quality and research and producing its collections entirely in Italy, at its ultra-modern production site. It now defines itself as "a contemporary fashion label positioned between haute couture and ready-to-wear."
 

On 22nd September Dondup will open its very first flagship store in the heart of Milan's luxury district, at 50 Via della Spiga. Another store is expected to open soon afterwards in Rome.

The label is present chiefly in northern Europe, and is seeking to expand its directly operated business in France and the UK, as well as in the USA and Asia.