farm to fashion

Fashion. Beauty. Business.
G
AU 16
20 o. 4
N
ALTERED
STATES
As retail faces
changes and challenges
in nearly every aspect of
operations, executives
eye innovative solutions.
FARM
Business Insights, p. 43
EUROPEAN
TEXTILE
PREVIEW
An in-depth interview
with Lenzing ceo
Stefan Doboczky,
and a look ahead at
Milano Unica, Première
Vision and Texworld.
Agenda, p. 16
TO
BRUNO
MAGLI AT 80
The venerable
Italian label adjusts
its fashion to the times,
but remains true to
its aesthetic.
Milestones, p. 33
FASHION
BACK-TO-NATURE
PRETTY RESONATES
THROUGH RESORT CHIC.
US
CANADA
UK
EUROPE
$9.99
$13
£8
€ 11
JAPAN
¥ 1500
CHINA
¥ 80
HONG KONG HK100
INDIA
800
Bruno Magli’s
wing-tip shoes,
wool suit and
briefcase from the
fall collection.
Prop styling by Donnie Myers
WWD
Milestones
T H E N E W OW N E RS AT M A RQ U E E B R A N D S A I M TO
R E V I TA L I Z E T H E 8 0 -Y E A R- O L D I TA L I A N H E R I TAG E
L A B E L BY P L AY I N G TO I TS ST R E N GT H S .
B y
L
U
I
S
A
Z
A
R
G
A
N
I
P h o t o g r a p h s
b y
G
R
A
H
A
M
P
O
L
L
A
C
K
“WHEN THEY WERE
CHILDREN, THE THREE
SIBLINGS [MARINO, MARIA
A N D B R U N O ] F R E Q U E N T LY
W E N T TO T H E WO R KS H O P
OF A SHOEMAKER WHO
E N C O U R AG E D T H E M TO
CARRY ON THE CRAFT.”
FROM “MAGLI: STORIA E IMMAGINI DI UNA
DINASTIA” BY SAMUELE MAZZA
A
fter eight decades in business, Bruno Magli’s
new owners, Marquee Brands, believe their path
is well-defined.
“Quality and craftsmanship is what the brand
is about,” said Mia Rothstein, senior vice president of brand management, “so we don’t want to
or need to reinvent ourselves — we just need to
build on what’s been strong and make it better.”
After changing hands several times in the past
few years, Bruno Magli is introducing women’s
footwear in the fall and expanding into new categories, including women’s and men’s timepieces
and men’s tailored clothing, as well as women’s
handbags. Rothstein said the company is leveraging Bruno Magli’s “very high brand awareness.”
She waved away any possible stumbling blocks in
the course of the brand’s history. “I think from
a customer perception, they don’t realize what
happened behind the scenes, which is very positive, so they just sort of stopped seeing so much
[product] in the marketplace. From the design
perspective, some were strong seasons, some
were more fashion, some were not.”
Rothstein said Magli was “like any other
great brand that has had its ups and downs and
management issues.” The brand was dented by
34 AUGUST 2016, No. 4 WWD.COM
A heel and
briefcase from
the brand.
“nothing other than lack of attention, marketing
or brand management.”
Enter Marquee Brands to support the company’s growth and give it proper focus.
“We’ve already seen a positive reaction, and
there is a connection to the brand,” Rothstein
contended. “People may not have seen any of it,
but they know of it and think of it in a positive
way. The marketing done to date and in the upcoming seasons will bring the recognition back.
Customers associate the brand with beautiful
product and really start to connect with it on another level.”
In January 2015, Cory M. Baker, chief operating
officer of Marquee Brands, and partner Michael
DeVirgilio, president of Marquee, acquired the
Bruno Magli label and related intellectual property assets from Bruno Magli SpA. Marquee is an
acquisition, licensing and development company
sponsored by Neuberger Berman Private Equity.
It was founded in 2014, and Magli marked Marquee’s first acquisition; it has since taken on Ben
Sherman. It has a goal for Magli of sales around
$450 million within four or five years.
(For more on Marquee, see page 37.)
The purchase followed nearly two decades
of uncertainty for Bruno Magli, during which
time the company, founded in 1936 by siblings
Marino, Maria and Bruno Magli, underwent an
extended game of musical chairs with owners:
In 2001, Luxembourg-based investment fund
Opera acquired a controlling interest from the
family; in 2007, it was sold to U.K.-based private
equity fund Fortelus Capital, and in 2014, it was
acquired by Da Vinci Invest AG, a Swiss fund.
Around April 2004, the brand’s U.S. unit filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy, from which it exited in
January 2005.
Rothstein emphasized Italy’s craftsmanship,
since this is a true “Italian story,” in the words
of Samuele Mazza in his 1996 book “Magli: Storia e Immagini di una Dinastia” [“Magli: History
and Images of a Dynasty”]. The story originated
in Bologna, in the Emilia region. Luigi and Cesarina Magli had three children, Marino, Bruno and
Maria. “Already when they were children, the
three siblings frequently went to the workshop
of a shoemaker who encouraged them to carry
on the craft according to standards of quality that
were carved in stone,” Mazza wrote. “The Magli
fairy tale began with capital of 35 lire and a small
shop in the basement of the family home, where
Marino, Bruno and Maria [began working]. The
oldest [child] made insoles, the middle cut leather and the youngest sewed uppers.” The business
further developed after their father invested his
life’s savings in machinery and tools.
After World War II, the Maglis opened a large
warehouse and hired 250 workers, with ambitious
plans to export the brand in Europe and open
boutiques in Italy. The first shop opened in the
heart of Bologna in 1951 on Via Ugo Bassi. In the
Fifties, the shoe factory added the men’s line and
moccasins, which became bestsellers. In 1969, a
new manufacturing plant opened in Bologna.
A generational change took place after that,
when Morris, son of Marino; Sandro, son of Bruno, and Mauro, son of Maria, became even more
active in the company. Morris took on administration and production; Sandro led sales and
product, and Mauro spearheaded the expansion
of the stores in Italy.
Fast-forward to today: Marquee Brands is reassessing its distribution. “We have key partners
in regions that have historically supported the
brand, and wholesale and retail opportunities,”
Rothstein explained, noting the company has a
“tremendous business in Korea, which continues
to thrive,” with 30 stand-alone stores and 50 instore shops.
Starting this fall, Bruno Magli will roll out
more stores in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Ensuring the right location is a priority, observed Rothstein. “We are committed, but it’s not
that we want to have thousands of stores — and
the first stores are so important,” she said, adding that a balance between retail and wholesale
is key.
In July, Bruno Magli said it had inked partnerships with Sitoy Retailing Ltd. in China and
with Bruno Magli Partners Co. Ltd. in Japan, to
develop its business in China and Japan. Besides
wholesale distribution, Sitoy is opening the first
Bruno Magli in-store shop in the Sogo department store at Causeway Bay in Hong Kong this
month. Also, at least 15 monobrand stores are
scheduled to open throughout China. In September, Bruno Magli Partners Co. Ltd. will launch an
online store in Japan, historically a solid market
for the label. Bricks-and-mortar stores are slated
for 2017 and beyond.
The brand’s online store, which launched in
September 2015, “continues to grow,” Rothstein
said, and the plan is to have localized e-commerce in Japan, China and Europe by the end of
this year. ■
EIGHTY YEARS
of STYLE
WWD
Milestones
Samuel Porat,
Cory M. Baker,
Zachary P. Sigel
and Michael
DeVirgilio.
Design
g
Evolution
Through different phases
of its history, the brand
has adjusted fashion to
the times but remained
true to its aesthetic.
Bruno Magli’s wool
suit and shoes.
STEPPING
THROUGH
TIME
BY FRANCESCA BONFANTI
36 AUGUST 2016, No. 4 WWD.COM
1936 Bruno
Magli and siblings
Marino and Maria
start crafting
women’s shoes in
Bologna, Italy.
1947 The company
opens its first manufacturing facility and
expands its product
range to include
men’s shoes.
In 1936, when Bologna-based siblings Bruno, Marino and Maria Magli started their industrial venture in the footwear industry, they had one aim
in mind — manufacturing high-end, sophisticated
shoes using artisanal techniques.
Once past the dark period of World War II,
in the Fifties and Sixties the Maglis managed
to achieve this goal and they started building
an international reputation for the Bruno Magli brand. To fit the needs of that era’s women,
who wanted a more modern and feminine image, the brand developed some styles that revolutionized footwear: the pump, the stiletto and
the pointed-toe shoe. At the end of the Sixties,
the brand also introduced boots, cut long and
crafted from an elastic material to resemble
stockings.
In the Nineties, a range of shoe designers,
including Andrea Pfister, Diego Dolcini, Bruno
Frisoni and Ernesto Esposito, followed one another at the brand’s creative helm. They continued to advance the image of the brand, rooted
in an elegant, sober aesthetic for discreet femininity.
In 2001, Luxembourg-based investment fund
Opera acquired a majority stake from the Magli
family, and a new creative team, which included
Irish designer Sharon Wauchob, came on board.
Under the commercial direction of Alexander
Zschokke, in 2003 Bruno Magli introduced a full
handbag collection featuring the “Ring Bag,” a
style in calf, crocodile or python skin featuring
leather strips encircling it; a limited-edition shoe
range of four colorful pumps designed by Italian
artist Davide Pizzigoni, as well as a ready-to-wear
capsule, including a biker jacket, available in
napa leather and python skin, and a suede duster
coat with hand-pleated cuffs.
The 2007 acquisition of Bruno Magli by British investment fund Fortelus Capital resulted in
a more up-to-date approach focused not only on
products, but also on marketing strategies.
1967 After expanding
its commercial base
and growing into a
successful footwear
company, Bruno Magli
opens its first store in
Bologna.
Marquee photograph by George Chinsee
By ALESSANDRA TURRA
To boost and refresh the image of the brand,
which was positioned in the affordable luxury
segment, Bruno Magli tapped footwear designer
Max Kibardin as its creative director. Kibardin
offered elegant, sophisticated footwear and bag
collections, defined by simple, clean silhouettes,
bold tones and upscale materials. The sexier impulse he injected in the lineup also echoed in his
leather-centered ready-to-wear capsules, which
included chic shrunken bombers, full skirts and
peasant dresses.
In December 2012, Kibardin collaborated
with jewelry designer Mawi Keivom on a pre-fall
capsule collection featuring two styles of $1,100
crystal and hardware-laden pumps, as well as a
clutch for $1,875.
In January 2015, with the company’s acquisition by Marquee Brands, the brand again
charted a new course. Its collections are now
developed by LJP International, Marquee’s New
Jersey-based sourcing, distribution and licensing partner. A design team, organized in groups
taking care of the different divisions, has been
tapped to revamp the image.
“Today, Bruno Magli’s heritage continues
to evolve by reinventing luxury essentials for
a new generation,” said Mia Rothstein, Magli’s
senior vice president of brand management.
“Since its inception, Magli has created refined,
handcrafted footwear. The brand continues to
be committed to maintaining Italian design and
production, while building a global luxury lifestyle brand rooted in rich Italian heritage and
classic style.”
The women’s line, which will be relaunched
for fall, will offer a contemporary take on Bruno
Magli’s signature styles, such as hardware-embellished leather shoes, suede and patent leather
pumps, flats and boots.
“The brand has such an incredible heritage,”
said Rothstein. “We must look into the archives
and reconnect with the great past of the label. We
have to build on what we are and make it better.”
Among the key women’s styles to be sold this
fall, Rothstein cited Emma, a flat embellished
with a geometric gold buckle, and Lucy, a shoe
designed in collaboration with the brand’s face
Lucy Liu. The Papillon decor and Bruno Magli’s
iconic M-shaped toe will also be pivotal.
Women’s footwear will retail from $375 to
$1,050, while men’s shoes range from $350 to
$500. Last year, the brand also introduced a
higher-end men’s higher footwear line, called
Collezione, retailing from $550 to $725.
The women’s range will be also be expanded
with the addition of handbags, launching for holiday, while men’s footwear will coordinate with
a tailored collection produced under license by
Marcraft Apparel Group and will feature suits,
shirts and ties. In March, Bruno Magli will introduce men’s and women’s timepieces during the
Baselworld trade show in Basel, Switzerland. ■
1969 Bruno Magli moves into a larger factory and begins to gain global
recognition as a fashion brand
known for Italian quality and craftsmanship. Three cousins — Morris,
son of Marino; Sandro, son of Bruno,
and Mauro, son of Maria — become
more active in the company.
1980 The house
quickly expands
outside of Italy,
opening more
than 40 stores
throughout America, Australia, China
and Europe.
S T R AT E G I C
THINKING
Magli’s new owners and
brand managers outline
an aggressive future for
the brand and others in its
stable. By VICKI M. YOUNG
Marquee Brands has a shopping list in mind for future
acquisitions to build out its
portfolio.
Neuberger Berman Private
Equity established the
brand management firm
in September 2014. Under
the leadership of president
Michael DeVirgilio and chief
operating officer Cory M.
Baker, Marquee made its
first two acquisitions last
year. The firm acquired
Bruno Magli in January 2015
for $33.6 million, and Ben
Sherman that July for $63.7
million.
According to DeVirgilio,
the firm at the outset
brainstormed with its key
retail partners to get a reality
check on what brands they
would like to see in their
stores. “We engaged with all
the major retailers, analyzing
what’s on their radar. That’s
number one. They gave us
their shopping list, which allows us to be more focused.”
He explained that the
strategy helps the firm work
with its key partners to “drive
their strategy. It makes no
sense to go out and make an
acquisition and then have to
convince a retailer that the
brand is relevant.”
And while the retail landscape is in flux, DeVirgilio
said that has less impact
on the type of brands that
it might choose to acquire.
“Good brands are good
brands,” he said. “It’s the way
you access the consumer
that’s changing. Is the brand
able to reach consumers in
nontraditional forms? That’s
the key.”
Baker said Marquee
works with a dedicated
team at Neuberger, making
the combined efforts of the
Marquee team and those
from Neuberger “more
robust than our competitors
today.” And while there’s
been a common theme
among some investment
bankers and financial and
strategic buyers that there
haven’t been many really
good brands at fair prices
available for sale, Baker
is quick to dispute that:
“There’s no shortage of
brands, and our competitors
are welcome to take any of
them. We look at it through a
different lens.”
Brands need to matter, but
that could mean different
things, depending on whether the point of view is luxury
or the mass retail channel,
Baker said. What’s key is that
the brand resonates with
the consumer and is part
of people’s lifestyle. Further,
Marquee is OK with brands
that need a bit of fine-tuning
to turn around operations.
“It depends on what you
mean by a turnaround,” Baker said. “Most things on sale
require some turnaround.
Most important is whether
what’s required is under the
hood or in the eye of the
consumer. If it’s a tarnished
brand in the eye of the consumer, that’s not for us.”
Samuel Porat, managing
director at Neuberger, said,
1995 Bruno Magli
becomes an unfortunate pop culture
trivia item when the
brand is mentioned
repeatedly during
the O.J. Simpson
trial.
“Bruno Magli is a classic
example of a brand that was
damaged financially. We
brought the company out of
bankruptcy, but the consumer wasn’t aware of that. A
few years ago, the brand had
one of its best years, then
it took a turn for the worst
because of the way the
business was managed.”
According to Baker, Bruno
Magli around 2011 had annual volume of $250 million
worldwide, focusing on
men’s and women’s shoes,
and a much smaller line of
small leather goods. “By the
end of this year, product
categories will include men’s
footwear, shirts, ties, small
leather goods, women’s
footwear, women’s handbags and watches, along
with territory expansion
across Latin America, Japan
and an e-commerce site.
We are set to launch 65
freestanding stores by 2021.
We’re focused on achieving
$350 million in sales over
the next four to five years,”
Baker said.
At the same time, the company is working to achieve
that same magic with its Ben
Sherman brand. With about
$150 million in annual volume
at the time of its acquisition,
Marquee has added categories and product extensions.
The retail plan calls for between 52 to 150 retail doors
over the next four years, with
2000 The brand
strengthens its image
under the creative
direction of Rita Magli,
wife of Morris, while
maintaining its quality
and heritage for “Made
in Italy” products.
2001 Luxembourg-based
investment
company Opera acquires
Bruno Magli.
the goal of reaching annual
volume around $450 million,
Baker said.
What also makes
Marquee unique among its
competitors is its financial
sponsor, Neuberger, which
in February disrupted how
brand management firms
are financed through the
closing of a $462 million
fund earmarked solely to
Marquee Brands LLC. That
dry powder gives Marquee
an advantage as it can
move forward on any deal
it chooses with certainty
that it can close on the
transaction quickly, without
any contingencies required
for financing.
Zachary P. Sigel, a principal
at Neuberger, who with
Porat pore over much of the
analytical details and due
diligence connected with
potential deals, said, “The
model at Marquee is to have
a long-term view with everything that we acquire. We’re
looking out three, four or five
years on what the brand can
be. Every single brand that
we acquire needs to have
organic growth potential.”
Sigel said the plan is to build
the portfolio to a dozen
brands over the next three
to four years. “We can scale
smaller if we think there’s
great growth potential, and
there’s no acquisition that’s
too big if it was the right one,”
he said.
2003 The brand launches
its first full-fledged handbag collection produced
under the supervision
of managing director
Alexander Zschokke, who
was hired the previous
year by Opera.
WWD.COM AUGUST 2016, No. 4
37
WWD
Milestones
“ W E D O N ’ T N E E D TO
R E I N V E N T O U R S E LV E S —
WE JUST NEED
TO B U I L D O N W H AT ’ S
BEEN STRONG.”
MIA ROTHSTEIN, Bruno Magli
38 AUGUST 2016, No. 4 WWD.COM
WWD
Milestones
A Classic
Approach
The product and brand
heritage take center stage
in the label’s advertising.
By SANDRA SALIBIAN
One of Charlie’s Angels is on a mission to relaunch a historic shoe brand.
Bruno Magli tapped actress Lucy Liu as brand
ambassador, putting her at the center of its fall
ad campaign. The partnership with Liu is expected to boost the relaunch of the brand’s women’s
line in the U.S., after a three-year hiatus.
The campaign is a tribute to the brand’s Italian heritage. Shot by photographer Ruven Aff
anador, the images portray Liu next to model
Marian Kurpanov in a series of glamorous sets,
ranging from luxury yachts and old-style cafés
to elegant art auctions. Inspired by Ruth Orkin’s
renowned “American Girl in Italy” photograph,
the black-and-white and color images are infused
with a certain cinematic appeal and echo the
brand’s sophisticated attitude.
Styled by Lee Harris, Liu and Kurpanov display fall’s standout pieces. Liu shows off Emma
10 ballet flats with a geometric gold buckle; the
Antonia 105 signature M vamp pumps in nude
and mirrored silver, and Anna 85 sling-back
pumps in black and gold, among other colors.
Men’s styles include Monza driving moccasins
with signature hardware and the Maioco, a classic lace-up dress shoe.
This month, the images began appearing in
fashion magazines worldwide and will be flanked
by a behind-the-scenes video.
“Bruno Magli is a great fit for me because it’s
so classic,” Liu said in the video. “I also love the
heritage.”
Liu will collaborate with Bruno Magli’s creative team to release a shoe style bearing her
name. Part of the proceeds of The Lucy shoe
will be donated to UNICEF, which the actress has
been representing since 2004.
“I love that [Bruno Magli] wanted to do something that also benefits children globally. It’s nice
to be able to combine both of them [aspects],”
she said.
Liu’s shoes will hit stores in November.
The Italian house tapped Liu as an international face to celebrate its 80th anniversary, but
the brand is not new to testimonials. In 2014,
2007 Investment
fund Fortelus Capital
acquires Bruno Magli
SpA, marking a new
chapter for the footwear company.
40 AUGUST 2016, No. 4 WWD.COM
2012 Patricia
Malone
becomes chief
executive
officer of Bruno
Magli USA.
2012 Gabriella di Carlo
becomes
commercial
director.
Bruno Magli selected actress and singer Park
Shin-hye as its Korean ambassador and the face
of its spring campaign. Shot in a studio, the images created a buzz in the Asian market due to Shinhye’s popularity, and the collaboration was so
successful, it was repeated the following season.
Since its earliest days, Bruno Magli has conveyed its signature sophistication and philosophy
through its advertising campaigns, which evolved
over the years from still-life images and movie-like close-ups to articulated fashion stories.
From fall 1962’s graphic sketch worked in a
brown palette and 1985’s geometric still life in fire
red, to the minimal attitude of the footwear closeups from ads in the Nineties and 2000s, the images have struck a balance between the brand’s
specific aesthetic and contemporary trends.
Starting with the fall 2012 season, then-creative director Max Kibardin injected a fierce,
sexier twist into the campaigns, which also focus on ready-to-wear. Case in point: the spring
2013 images displayed a more provocative model
shot on a rich, aristocratic set. Dressed in leather, she posed with accessories including leather
ankle-cuffed high-heels and structured red brieff
cases that matched her lipstick, enhancing the
images’ sensuality.
A similar scenario followed for fall 2013, as a
blonde model sported the collection in a series
of intense shots, set in dark, polished interiors.
Leather, fur, velvet, silk and metallic garments
stood out in a wide palette, ranging from classic black, dove, brick and mauve to vivid tones,
like emerald and gold. Completing the look were
the season’s key accessories: crocodile suitcases; two-tone leather tall boots and gold sandals
embellished with jewel decorations; long leather,
fur and suede gloves, and bijoux with colored
stones, among others.
This hyper-glamorous attitude turned into
more discreet sophisticated elegance for fall
2015, developed after Bruno Magli’s acquisition
by Marquee Brands. Shot by photographer David
Rosenbaum, men’s loafers crafted from calfskin
and exotic skins and women’s two-tone pumps
took center stage in the campaign, which portrayed a young couple in a Tuscan-inspired villa.
With this approach, Marquee revealed its
strategy to tout Bruno Magli’s heritage to reaffirm
its role as a brand rooted in a tradition of upscale
craftsmanship. ■
FROM THE TOP
A Bruno Magli 2016 ad campaign;
ads from 1970 and 1962.
2014 Swiss firm
Da Vinci Invest AG
acquires Bruno
Magli from Fortelus
Capital and appoints
Manfred Ebensberger as the label’s chief
executive officer.
2015 In January, Marquee Brands acquires
the house, committing
to maintain Italian design and production.
2016 The
brand marks
its 80th
anniversary
in business.