Zegna and Prada invest in Lombard craftsmanship

As part of the maneuvers to protect Made in Italy carried out by luxury brands in recent months, Ermenegildo Zegna Group and the Prada Group have each agreed to acquire a 15% stake in Luigi Fedeli e Figlio Srl, an artisanal family business founded in Monza in 1934 as a workshop for felt hats that has grown over the years into the excellence of knitwear and fine fabrics. This move is testimony to an increasingly cooperative attitude among Italian fashion entrepreneurs and the importance of protecting high-quality knitwear.

Luigi Fedeli, the third generation of the Fedeli family, current chairman and CEO, will retain the remaining 70% of the company and continue in his current positions, while Gildo Zegna, president, and CEO of Ermenegildo Zegna Group, and Patrizio Bertelli, president and managing director of Prada Group, will join the company's board. «The agreement for Prada Group to acquire a stake in Fedeli represents a strategic investment to preserve the know-how and tradition of a company that has been able to make a difference,» Bertelli told WWD.