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Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce are beginning to prepare their succession. The designer duo, now both in their sixties, are considering opening up the capital, possibly even taking Dolce & Gabbana to the stock exchange.
Ready to go
CEO (and brother of the co-founder) Alfonso Dolce announced in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera’s L’Economia that the designer duo, who founded the label now forty years ago are “ready now”. That is quite new: not that long ago, Stefano Gabbana made it clear in the past that he never wanted to sell “their child”, while a future in the hands of other designers also seemed unthinkable. “When we’re dead, we’re dead,” Gabbana said.
The families have good reasons to think about opening the capital: an IPO would put the brand’s valuation at six billion euros. At the moment, the company is fully owned by both families: the two founders own 80 % of the shares, with Domenico Dolce’s family (including Alfonso) owning the remaining 20 %.
American dream
As long as the outside investors “do not compromise the ethical value of the company and its respectful growth strategies”, the fashion house now appears to be considering that possibility after all. Growth is indeed still there, even in more difficult times: in the last financial year, sales rose 17 % to 1.87 billion euros – an achievement D&G hopes to repeat this year.
The United States is particularly important for Dolce & Gabbana: the brand has 72 shops there, and four in Canada. Together, they account for 28 % of all sales, compared to 16 % for China. In the next eighteen months, D&G plans to open twelve more stores in the US, including one of more than 2,000 sqm and five floors on New York’s Madison Avenue.
