When Daniella Vitale became the Ferragamo CEO Americas, it was a full-circle event for the lauded retail and brand executive, as her career in the luxury sector began at Salvatore Ferragamo over 30 years ago. It was also a first as Vitale became the first female CEO in the Americas market at the family-run company first famous for its iconic Old Hollywood shoe business. FashionNetwork.com spoke with the company leader about her role and the brand’s strategy for the American market.
“To do anything after my roles at Tiffany and Barneys, it had to be something where I could have an impact, not just be a figurehead. I was excited to be a part of this incredible brand that needed some rejuvenation and transformation,” Vitale said from New York via Zoom, adding, “It’s hard to believe, but I am the first female CEO. As a company with many women, especially young women, it’s important to see a woman in this leadership role.”
It also doesn’t hurt to be female-led in the practical sense when Vitale noted that the biggest area of growth is the women’s product, which under current Maximilian Davis direction has sparked sales, especially in the US customer who is trend-driven. Overall, for H1 2023, the brand reported 600 million euros versus 630 million euros in June 2022 as it accelerates its creative transition while continuing to optimize the wholesale and retail networks according to a Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. press release regarding the 2023 Half Year Earnings Report.
“Remember, the majority of the business was men’s, so we are different from the other big luxury peers, and why we have such a big opportunity to develop our women’s business. That business got smaller as the men’s business got so much bigger. We can’t scale unless women’s grows. It’s math,” she explained.
Part of the growth has come from strategic partnerships with retailers such as Saks, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman, which is carrying the line for the first time. It’s a quality-over-quantity approach, Vitale noted, adding that the wholesale business needed a reset in the form of pulling back on other wholesale accounts.
“Wholesale is critically important because they may have a different consumer. We went through a period where it was less direct-to-consumer and more wholesale-focused—we opened stores for the sake of sales, not the brand—but it’s not the vision for Ferragamo now,” she continued.
Reshaping the image of existing Ferragamo stores is part of the vision set forth by CEO Marco Gobbetti and Davis, whose creative oeuvre includes product, media, and retail spaces.
Currently, two stores are in the works: one in Toronto on the prestigious shopping byway, Bloor Street, and making its Aventura Mall store, located north of Miami, larger. “We need to renovate our network of older, existing stores that don’t reflect the new image. Capital will go towards renovating and innovating those spaces,” she said.
While not an exact example of what the new spaces will look like, the brand’s Greene Street store encompasses Davis’ experimental side, geared at enticing a new generation of Ferragamo fans, especially with its tech innovation components. Its activations distinguish it from the company’s other New York City boutiques, a good thing, according to Vitale. “It’s a different consumer than Fifth Ave or Brookfield Place. The Greene Street NFT project represents the type of narrative we want for Ferragamo.”
Case in point: an NFT and sneaker customization event last July in partnership with the multidisciplinary design studio DE-YAN, founded by Dejan Jovanovic. The Fall 2023 campaign—which juxtaposes Davis’ modern vision for the brand against its Florentine roots via famous artworks from the 15th and 16th centuries thanks to a collaboration with the Uffizi Gallery—captured by Tyler Mitchell projects a contemporary Renaissance attitude (with a dose of Warhol Factory) and will be the focus of a new NFT project by DE-YAN to bow at the Greene Street location during NYFW.
“It’s respectful of the company’s heritage and the origin of Florence. It’s so important, we should own that but not in an obsequious way or a way that feels dated or old,” Vitale said of the new campaign.
The executive shared a bit of her history with the Florentine-based company. She started as an assistant merchandiser in men’s shoes. “It was very glamourous,” she quipped, quickly adding, “The great part was spending time in Italy in the factories, with production, development, and the designers. Plus, I had a fantastic mentor, Paulette Garafalo, currently the chairman of the board at Paul Stuart.”
The position allowed her to get to know Ferragamo family members such as Massimo and Leonardo, two of Salvatore’s sons who still have pivotal leadership roles today, with whom, through her various roles in fashion, helped keep her close with the clan after three decades. Chief Transformation & Sustainability Officer James Ferragamo was Vitale’s trainee. “It was a lot of pressure to have a family member as an intern,” she remembered fondly.
Her current position gives her a holistic view of the business in the Americas, focusing on business development, strategy, and brand positioning and supporting the vision of both Gobbetti and Davis to reposition the label, a point Vitale doesn’t shy away from.
“The execution is critical; the US has a halo effect for the rest of the world. As important as China is—I’m not negating that it’s also how we scale— the West is still super influential. How we position ourselves as a brand, a company, a leadership team, and how we communicate is important. We take it very seriously,” she emphasized.
The Ferragamo customer here is crucial in leading the transformation, too. Successful styles under Davis, an updated version of the Ferragamo Wanda bag, and a completely new style, the Hug bag, helped fuel the new mood.
“The US is more of a fashion consumer and understands the trends; they are attracted to fashion products more than the other regions that skew more classic. We won’t give that aspect away but will offer newer styles that people are responding to.”
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