According to Tod's CEO «it's too late» for an Italian luxury group

«The concept of saying the pole of Italian luxury is unfortunately not there, and I don't see anything on the horizon that could make us think otherwise, except for one or two possible aggregations», said Diego della Valle yesterday in a conference held at the IULM in Milan. «The Italians didn't create one in time and today we lack what it's needed in order to aggregate different companies, therefore it's clear that it's too late for that now». The CEO of the Tod's Group, which besides the eponymous brand also owns Hogan, Fay and Roger Vivier, has attributed part of the blame to the Italian banks of «working only with the same people and for their cronies» differently from what happens in France where banking institutions such as Lazard have supported luxury groups in the past. Della Valle also looked to France for the future of the group, underlining how, as consultant of LVMH, the acquisitions of brands such as Bulgari, Fendi and Loro Piana have benefited the. thanks to the business model of the group that maintains the Italian production chains and involves the families that own them, raising the value of the brands. Already last year, in the aftermath of the acquisition by LVMH of 10% of Tod's, Della Valle had said that: «If I were to decide tomorrow, together with my family, to sell more shares, LVMH would be the ideal partner». 

Delving into the concept of Italy's luxury hub, Della Valle said that in Italy «large industries are always owned by a property that is organizational and often also stylistically responsible for the product, the image, they puts its face on it» - perhaps criticizing that Italian leadership model whereby CEOs are also the creative directors and image personalities of their respective brands, which leads to a certain isolationism that prevents the creation of a solid alliance: «There is on the part of some an awareness of saying I own my group, I run it, that's fine, period», said della Valle. The model to which the feudalism of Italian fashion would seem to be opposed is that of LVMH's "federal state" where the various brands report to a central government, and where CEOs are professionals separate from creative directors, thus creating a more agile image management.