Luxury fashion family empires are not particularly known for their openness when it comes to succession planning. The world number one, LVMH, is still controlled by its chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault. Four of his five children have seats on the LVMH board and are all in the running to take over once he steps down.
Last month, Giorgio Armani, the famed Italian designer behind his eponymous brand, raised eyebrows when he said he hadn’t ruled out the idea of eventually selling the company.
Now, the heir to another luxury company has spoken out on the matter, saying he would consider making acquisitions for his 110-year-old brand.
“We have been and always will be open to exploring opportunities,” said Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada’s head of social responsibility and heir to the controlling billionaire family. told Bloomberg.
Bertelli was responding to questions regarding Armani’s future, on which he declined to comment. However, it is telling that he is now discussing the possibility of growing Prada’s range of brands, which includes Miu Miu and Church’s, when only three years ago he had rebuffed suggestions that Prada itself could one day be sold, saying he wanted the group stay under family control.
Prada and Armani are among the Italian fashion houses that have remained independent in an era of widespread mergers and acquisitions. Alongside Salvatore Ferragamo, Ermenegildo Zegna and Canali, they remain controlled by the families who founded them.
Many others have been bought by conglomerates such as France’s LVMH and Kering, both controlled by the family, including Berluti and Gucci respectively.
Prada itself has been actively involved in closing deals, albeit on a smaller scale, including acquiring a minority stake in knitwear manufacturer Fedeli last year.
The Hong Kong-listed company, 80% controlled by the Bertelli family through a holding company, is certainly in a strong position to consider mergers and acquisitions. While the tightening of client wallets has affected luxury industry, Prada has bucked the trend.
The company reported strong results in 2023 and invested heavily in its retail presence to attract more consumers. It may not be as big as market leader LVMH: Prada sales have been successful 4.7 billion euros ($5 billion) last year, compared to 86.2 billion euros for the French conglomerate ($92.6 billion). Yet it is one of the most recognizable luxury brands and its heritage dates back over 100 years.
Stay independent no matter what
Family business owners often want keep controlin a creative and financial sense, to protect their family legacy – and who better than the family to project this legacy?
Armani, still CEO of his company at age 90, said that “independence from big groups could still be a driving value for the Armani Group,” in an interview with Bloomberg last month when he first recognized the possibility of an acquisition.
“I am not currently considering a takeover by a large luxury conglomerate,” Armani said. “Listing is something we haven’t discussed yet, but it’s an option that could be considered, hopefully in the distant future.”
The succession plan for Armani’s CEO has also not been made public, although he has many high-level lieutenants in the company’s leadership, ranging from a longtime collaborator to his nieces and nephews.
As for Prada, it will be interesting to see how the Bertelli family shapes its future as the forces influencing luxury continue to evolve.
Prada representatives did not return Fortunerequest for comment.
