Style Capital takes over Giuseppe di Morabito

A new jewel is added to the designer’s creative treasure Style capitalwho just signed an agreement with Joseph of Morabito, one of the Italian talents who are earning a place in the sun. Under the terms of the agreement that MFF can reveal exclusively, Roberta Benagliafounding partner and managing director of the management company of private equity funds investing in the fashion and luxury sector, will acquire 80% of the Gdm Milano srlthe company linked to the designer born in 1992, whose eponymous brand made its debut at Milan fashion week with the spring-summer 2015 collection. The remaining 20% ​​will remain in the hands of the designer.

The operation was carried out in co-investment with the industrial family Paolonialready next to Style capital with Msgm. And together a development path is already being prepared which will give new impetus to the brand, a press darling and loved by buyers as well as celebrities such as Lady Gaga

, Zendaya or Katy Perry. «We are happy not only to support large companies but also young emerging designers with great potential, with both financial and financial support industry,” explained a MFF Roberta Benaglia herself, who with this operation confirms that she is very attentive to brands and young talents. «For 2023 we are thinking of a consolidation. From 2024 there will be news, in sight there is also the debut on the catwalk with a fashion show ».

The brand has achieved a significant international presence in high-end wholesale distribution by distributing its products through 180 multi-brand luxury boutiques globally, in addition to the most important online retailers. Next steps? Communication strategy in line with the brand philosophy, go-live of its e-commerce site, ramp-up of the direct retail channel. In addition to strengthening the collection through the development of the accessories category and the creation of international commercial partnerships. A vision that will lead to precise and reasoned growth, as has already happened in the past with other operations carried out by the fund.

In recent years, in fact, Style Capital has invested around 350 million euros in the lifestyle, fashion & luxury sectors to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises with a turnover of approximately between 10 and 100 million euros. And the brand of the designer of Calabrian origin, which in recent years has expanded to Europe, the United States and Asia, would perfectly meet these criteria. Giuseppe di Morabito thus joins a stable of international brands which, under the wing of Style Capital, have seen their businesses take off in a few years and accelerate their expansion abroad.

Since the acquisition in 2017, Strong_Strong it went from 14 million in turnover to 29 million in 2022, with a mainly retail progression. The development of the brand Msgmcreated by Massimo Giorgetti, which when it was detected in 2018 generated around 40 million and last year rose to 55 million, mainly concerned the Asian market. He later made his entry into the fund too Re/done, a digital native Californian denim company that is completely sustainable in an up-cycle logic, which went from 12 million in 2018 to 48 million. In February 2021, the fund then took over the Australian brand Zimmermann which, after two years, has risen from 220 million to 380 million Australian dollars (equal to about 232 million euros at yesterday’s exchange rate) in turnover.

Finally, the operation with LuisaViaRoma, at the end of 2021, still the only fully digital company in the group. New steps had already been in the air since last year, also because the birth of Style capital 2

. “We are in the process of raising a new fund which will have a similar initial endowment of 350 million”, the entrepreneur had anticipated at the time MFF (see MFF of 9 April 2022). “We will carry out the first closing by the summer with an endowment of 250 million to close the fundraising by the end of the year,” continued Benaglia. «The focus will not change, always the world of fashion and luxury and companies with turnovers from 20 to 200 million». (All rights reserved)