etro

Etro

Etro is an Italian fashion house, founded in Milan in 1968 by Gerolamo Etro.

Gerolamo Etro

Gerolamo Etro, alias Gimmo, is a passionated collector of fashion, paints and English antiques objects (in this helped by his wife Roberta, a woman with taste and intuition), but also a lover of ancient history. In 1981 he reinterpreted the ancient Indian paisley pattern, using it on every material and product: in this way it became a distinctive point of the brand.

Gerolamo Etro.

The Milan headquarters, in via Spartaco, was renovated in 1977 to host offices, but also the textile archive of the brand and a library, born in 1974 and including rare and precious books. In 1984 the company increased its production, by introducing the Home collection, which included everything could furnish a house, from furniture to accessories.

Later, when menswear and womenswear ready-to-weat lines expanded and the first fragrances collection was launched, the brand opened its flagship store in via Montenapoleone, in order to reflect its new path. The company was managed by Gerolamo’s children: Kean was Creative Director for menswear collections and Veronica for womenswear ones; Jacopo was Creative Director for accessories, leather goods and home collections and leaded the communication; Ippolito, who started in administration, was General Director of the brand.

The 2000s

At the beginning of the millennium, Etro started explorating the concept of “new tradition”, a idea which joined several consecutive collections. In this period the company expanded its markets and opened new stores in New York City and in the Ginza quarter in Tokyo. Furthermore, in 2013 the company opened its online store.

Kean and Veronica Etro

It was 2014 when Rizzoli published the monography Etro and the brand inaugurated its Vicolo Fiori concept store, in the Brera quarter. Furthermore, during that years, it inaugurated the Circolo dei Poeti project, supported by Kean Etro, which called for the collaboration with young artists and demonstrated the opening of the fashion house to every type of art, not only to fashion.

In July 2021 the Etro family, after 55 years of activity, sold the company to L-Catterton Europe fund, which, in this way, acquired 60 % of the capital. The reason of the sell was the research of a new partner which could strengthen the position of the company and impress it a new growth. The new property made internal changes, such as the appointment of Fabrizio Cardinali as CEO and Marco De Vincenzo as Creative Director. But the founder family wasn’t excluded: Gerolamo became President and his children Kean, Veronica and Jacopo kept on collaborating to the realization of collections.

Despite having launched profitability and cash generation initiatives, in 2022 they lost 23.6 million out of 282 million in revenue.

The recapitalization followed the closing of the 2022 financial statements with significant losses in the statutory (EUR 28.3 million) and consolidated (EUR 23.6 million out of EUR 282 million in revenues) accounts, as well as the summertime merger of Etro and its subsidiary Nuova publitex.

Although the brand owners were entirely satisfied with it, on the meeting that happened on the 27 of September of 2022, it was decided that if Etro does not subscribe to all or part of the increase by year’s end, L Catterton will assume Etro’s share.

Etro style

Etro is synonymous with a life style which is based on quality and sophistication: not only in design, but also in materials and productive techniques. This universe of elegance comes from Gerolamo’s passion for travels and history, themes which are leitmotiv in every collection of the brand.

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Contacts

Website

Via Spartaco 3, 20135, Milano (MI), Italy

 

To read the item in Italian click here.