Marni’s Francesco Risso on Chasing Beauty, CEO Stefano Rosso Touts Brand’s Growth Potential

MILAN — A wave of energy is circulating throughout Marni’s headquarters in Milan.

The brand for the first time will hold its coed runway show at the start of the city’s fashion week and, in an exclusive and first interview together, creative director Francesco Risso and Stefano Rosso, named chief executive officer last May, are brimming with ideas and enthusiasm about the future.

“I am very happy and proud to be kicking off the week, I’ve been eyeing this spot for a while,” said Risso. “We feel fresh and we hope we’ll inject a nice dose of energy to those coming to our show.”

The brand in February returned to the Milan Fashion Week calendar after New York, Tokyo and Paris and Risso said he believed a second show in the city in Marni‘s Viale Umbria showroom, “where our ideas take shape,” felt appropriate “at a time that is so tempestuous and challenging in the world.” That said, he admitted other events to be held around the world in key markets are in the pipeline.

In fact, Rosso underscored Marni’s “global connotation. The shows held outside Italy opened many opportunities to the brand. We realized how much the rest of the world is in love with and understands Marni.”  

Despite his recent appointment, succeeding Barbara Calò, Rosso is no stranger to Marni. The son of Renzo Rosso, the founder and chairman of OTB, which controls the brand, he has been involved with it since Day One, observed Risso — the ease of the conversation and the friendly banter between the two men reflecting their long-standing relationship. A few years apart in age, both attended New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and have several friends in common.

Rosso is also chair of Maison Margiela, and is a board member of the OTB Group, where he has held various responsibilities over the years. He is also CEO of BVX (Brave Virtual Xperience), the business unit of OTB dedicated to the development of products, content and experiences for the virtual world, and is the cofounder and CEO of D-Cave, the gaming community lifestyle platform. In addition to Marni, OTB controls the Diesel, Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, and Viktor&Rolf brands, production arms Staff International and Brave Kid, and holds a stake in the Amiri brand.

Arriving at Marni as CEO, Rosso felt it was the right moment “to redefine what the brand stands for,” carrying out a study to redefine it, and which is expected to be concluded in a month. “We realized there were many identities of the brand around the world, which is normal after 30 years, with so many people working for Marni, but I think it’s important to clarify and formalize what is Marni,” said Rosso. “Yes, it’s a world full of worlds,” echoed Risso. 

Whatever the results of the study, it is a fact that Risso, a Prada Group alum who joined the Italian label in 2016, succeeding founder Consuelo Castiglioni, has so far led Marni with a bold and independent vision of fashion, his designs characterized by clashing prints, vibrant colors, deconstructed silhouettes, generous volumes and asymmetric cuts, and has created a strong community around the world. Risso is also drawn to Surrealism and the world of “Alice in Wonderland” — even taking his bow at the women’s fall 2020 show disguised as the White Rabbit.

In February, Risso conceived a cave-like setting, “which protected from the overabundance of visual stimuli,”  aiming at “instinctive design,” and, for spring, “this need for essentialism continues,” he said.

“There is nothing more important than people and clothes, and what you will perceive during the show is a sensation of cocooning toward the garments. Chasing beauty is what is most important — it’s like chasing rabbits in ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ What is beauty? That is a key question for me. I want to fill my eyes with beautiful things. Often in fashion there are so many structures that are illusions and I don’t want them at this moment, I want reality and great beauty. I call that a tool of resistance. The cave helped to create space for reflection and this will be the same — but there will be special effects,” he said, laughing. “Anything can happen in a white empty space, that is the beauty and the challenge of it.”

The spring collection is entirely realized in cotton. “The research done on cottons from different eras was immense, and we reproduced the fabrics with high-quality suppliers, re-elaborated them in a modern version, with tone-on-tone motifs,” explained Risso. The designer also employed cotton generally used for uniforms. “Cotton is forever and it’s one of the fabrics we know how to glorify best.”

While last season the lineup evolved from black to denaturalized colors, Risso said for spring the fabrics “are drawn in a very delicate, more subtle way.”

Rosso described Marni as “a cult brand,” which is “very international for its size,” yet still under-penetrated in several regions. “The potential is to double sales in the short and medium-term,” he stated.

While OTB does not disclose sales figures per brand, Rosso said Marni revenues in 2023 grew 8.6 percent, lifted by its directly operated network of stores, now totaling 108.

“I think Marni has to offer much more than other brands that are way bigger than us,” contended Rosso. “Beyond the figures, the job is to convey the wealth of values of our brand to more people and I am convinced results will be a natural consequence of the creative content and how we communicate it.”

He touted the growth of certain categories since OTB took over, such as menswear, which now accounts for around 30 percent of total sales, but said “we can do so much more with accessories, bags and shoes,” while also increasing the womenswear segment.

Japan, historically strong for Marni, continues to be its main market, followed by Europe. China grew rapidly throughout the pandemic, said Rosso, catching a number of real estate opportunities, such as the opening of a store in 2022 at JC Plaza mall in Shanghai. The main openings this year in China have been Suzhou Cangjie and Macao Galeries Lafayette. Pointing to a rationalization in China, Rosso said it is “more important to better serve the customer with bigger quality stores and work on very important clients rather than open hundreds of stores and not provide top quality.”

The Asia Pacific, the U.S., and Mexico were also markets Rosso mentioned as underdeveloped. “We have an incredible and eclectic community of Americans,” said Risso, who dressed Nicki Minaj, Rita Ora, her husband Taika Waititi and Charli XCX in custom Marni at the Met Gala last May.

The executive is a firm believer in the growth potential of the Middle East and, after inking a joint venture agreement with Chalhoub Group in June, Marni opened its first store in Riyadh last week.

Wholesale accounts for around 30 percent of sales and Rosso said a new men’s pop-up will open later this fall at Selfridges.

Risso enthused about Marni’s recently inked 20-year licensing agreement with Coty for the production of beauty products and fragrances. “Coty is an incredible company and it’s so interesting to work with them. I adore fragrances and all the world behind them, the senses, the poetry,” he said.

Having worn also women’s fragrances for years, he shied away from characterizing a gender for the scent, envisioning one that will “scream Marni and offer a wave of emotions for more and different clusters of individuals.” The first fragrance is expected to bow in early 2026.

Asked about one another’s talents, Rosso said the designer “has a natural and true passion for this brand, and absolute availability. You can always talk to him and a constructive and sincere dialogue is key for the success of a brand,” a rarity in this industry between a CEO and a creative designer, he added.

For his part, Risso praised Rosso’s “firmness and his composure. He gives me a strong sense of security and inspires me. It’s not easy to find someone so positive and decisive especially in a world where it’s easy to become unstitched,” he said, laughing. “This is what we need.”