LuisaViaRoma CEO to Future-proof Business Model as Style Capital Exits

MILAN — Style Capital has exited LuisaViaRoma after four years, leaving the troubled luxury e-tailer in the hands of current chief executive officer Tommaso Maria Andorlini, who has plans to stabilize the business by retooling strategy to pave the way for future growth.

WWD first reported on Style Capital’s sale on Wednesday.

Andorlini has taken over the 22 percent stake of Class A shares previously owned by Style Capital in Florence Srl, the investment vehicle that controls LuisaViaRoma. Florence Srl, which is backed also by other investors that are remaining onboard, holds a 40 percent stake in the e-tailer.

As a result Andorlini now controls 40 percent of LuisaViaRoma via his controlling stake in Florence Srl. This is in addition to the 8 percent stake in LuisaViaRoma he already owned through personal investment vehicle Holding 1. A third shareholder is Aima Srl, the investment vehicle of Andrea Panconesi, whose grandmother Luisa Jaquin opened a small boutique on Florence’s Via Roma in 1929, planting the first seeds of the family company’s success.

The acquisition comes at a complex time for the Florence-based multibrand retailer and the global retail landscape. LuisaViaRoma hasn’t been immune to the havoc being wrought by the current macroeconomic headwinds, dented consumer confidence and geopolitical instability.

“My investment was driven by having a clear vision of where LuisaViaRoma needs to go, as well as a strong understanding of where the market, as a whole, but especially the multibrand fashion market, is heading,” Andorlini told WWD.

“I was guided by the desire to implement a long-term industrial plan, free of the short-term cash-out pressures of financial vehicles. Instead, it’s about taking a more entrepreneurial perspective,” he said.

Italian private equity fund Style Capital invested 130 million euros through a capital increase in 2021 to acquire a 40 percent stake in the Florence-based multibrand e-tailer, setting up Florence Srl as the controlling vehicle.

Following the acquisition, Panconesi became chairman of the company, which back then generated revenues of around 230 million euros. Yoox veteran Alessandra Rossi joined as CEO that year and was succeeded by Andorlini in 2023.

“It’s really about shifting away from a business model that frankly hasn’t been working for any player in this market… not for the end consumer and not for middlemen like LuisaViaRoma,” Andorlini said about his go-forward strategy.

“The whole sector is struggling, but there’s still immense value in multibrand platforms that fashion cannot lose,” Andorlini opined. “These platforms drive newness, coolness and discovery, but for up-and-coming brands, direct market access is incredibly hard. And for established brands, servicing platforms where payment isn’t guaranteed makes things tough, too. Our responsibility as a platform is to redefine our model and ensure financial responsibility while continuing to support innovation and provide access to new brands,” he said.

“Our business model as an e-tailer and multibrand retailer is about 20 years old and it hasn’t evolved much over the last two decades. Whether it’s how we handle buying processes or inbound goods, things have stayed largely the same,” he offered, citing a few of the recent casualties in the e-commerce space, including Matchesfashion and Ssense, among others. 

As part of his business plan, Andorlini intends to trim the selection of brands and stock-keeping units per brand, a process initiated in 2024 and this year with a reduction of about 30 percent, which he expects to carry on next year, slashing an additional 20 percent. 

“The only way for us to compete is to shift focus, reduce the breadth of our inventory, and go deeper into fewer, more strategic selections and partnerships” Andorlini said.

“These collaborations are going to be more than just commercial ones; they’ll be about a shared vision. We’ll work together on launches, marketing initiatives, shared timing for collection drops, even aligning sale schedules. Right now, the timing is fundamentally broken,” he said.

“The disconnect between the value created by brands and their products, and what the consumer actually perceives at the end of the chain, creates major issues… My vision is to shorten this value chain, to build closer collaboration between multibrands, last-mile players, and the brands themselves,” the CEO contended.

To this end, earlier this year LuisaViaRoma inked a partnership with Camera Buyer Italia and its marketplace Thebs.com to create a multistore online destination, which is a work in progress.

As reported, last July LuisaViaRoma revealed plans to streamline its business operations by shutting its unit and office in Milan. This did not entail any layoffs or redundancies and Andorlini said Wednesday that these are not in the pipeline either, although he conceded that the retailer has resorted to the “cassa integrazione,” a state-funded wage support measure.

In August, the retailer filed for protection measures with a Florence court and the Italian Chamber of Commerce, paperwork reviewed by WWD revealed at the time, seeking to continue its extrajudicial negotiations with financial creditors while ensuring business continuity.

On Wednesday, Andorlini said LuisaViaRoma is currently in phase two of restructuring its debt, with cost trimming and rationalization processes still ongoing.

These will not involve any store closures, he said.

Under Andorlini’s lead, LuisaViaRoma opened its second brick-and-mortar unit in New York’s NoHo in 2024, flanking the storied boutique on Florence’s Via Roma.

The company operates three additional stores — an outlet in Prato, Italy called LuisaViaRoma Archive, and two SOTF luxury sneaker stores in Florence and Forte dei Marmi. The latter two became part of LuisaViaRoma’s business following its acquisition of Holding IT, a firm helmed by Andorlini and the parent company to FFW Srl, which has created and managed e-commerce sites for fashion brands since 2011, and Playground Srl, which operates the SOTF banner.

According to preliminary figures, the retailer logged sales of 310 million euros in 2024. Commenting on the 2025 performance, Andorlini said that the retailer has experienced a decline in top-line revenues, but improved sell-through rates. 

“Our business has contracted somewhat, partly because we bought less inventory this year and partly due to pressures across geographies,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re seeing certain areas experiencing significant slowdowns, such as the U.S. and other regions being plagued by geopolitical unrest.

“We’re entering what feels like a phase of ‘deglobalization.’ For two decades, we enjoyed global expansion, with new markets continually emerging. But in the past couple of years, the number of viable markets is shrinking, and this is why my industrial strategy includes strengthening the Southern Europe region significantly,” he said.

Andorlini didn’t forecast a rosier 2026, anticipating little improvement in consumer confidence with an ongoing decline in sentiment toward high-end brands and more mindful approaches about spending.