<\/p>\n
\n\tMILAN \u2014 \u201cOne of the lessons I\u2019ve learned is the importance of patience,\u201d said Sandro Veronesi, reflecting on his 40-year-long journey at the helm of Italian multibrand group Oniverse.<\/p>\n
\n\tEstablished in Verona, Italy, in 1986 as the corporate extension of the innerwear, hosiery and beachwear brand Calzedonia, the group has grown into a diversified powerhouse, challenging the long-held notion that Italian fashion companies struggle to achieve scale.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn addition to Calzedonia, it also currently comprises innerwear brands Intimissimi; Luman, previously known as Intimissimi Uomo, and Tezenis; knitwear and cashmere label Falconeri; wine retailer Signorvino; bridal brand Atelier Em\u00e9; luxury fashion brand Antonio Marras, and premium yacht-maker Cantiere del Pardo, which it acquired in 2023, including the Grand Soleil, Pardo and Van Dutch labels.<\/p>\n
\n\tMarking its 40th anniversary, the brand hosted a party for about 10,000 of its employees last month at the Roman amphitheater Arena di Verona. Last week Veronesi flew to New York to host \u201cGalleria Falconeri\u201d at the Brant Foundation in the East Village, combining celebrations for the cashmere brand and the group\u2019s milestone.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe company grew in small steps, but those baby steps brought us here,\u201d Veronesi told WWD, reflecting about the anniversary.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat means revenues rose to 3.7 billion euros in 2025, a 4.8 percent increase at current exchange rates versus a year earlier, with exports amounting to 2.3 billion euros compared with 2.2 billion euros in 2024.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tNUma Thurman and Sandro Veronesi attend Galleria Falconeri on Oct. 14 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt\/Getty Images for Falconeri)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCraig Barritt\/Courtesy of Oniverse<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere are many ingredients behind our growth. The first is maintaining a close relationship with our customers and understanding what they want. Today we are present in nearly 60 countries, each with different needs, tastes and their own brands and competitors. It takes years to understand a market and earn recognition,\u201d Veronesi said.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs of Dec. 31, 2025, the group had a total of 5,538 stores, of which 3,650 were outside Italy.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe maintain close relationships with customers through different strategies, both in our stores and through e-commerce. Innerwear remains our core business, and because it is a recurring purchase, consumers tend to be loyal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat customer-centric approach is one Veronesi has brought to the brands Oniverse has acquired over the years, from Falconeri in 2009 to Atelier Em\u00e9 in 2015 and Antonio Marras in 2022, among others.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere was not necessarily a precise strategic logic behind the diversification. I could have chosen to deepen our specialization, but I am curious, and opportunities emerged. I began asking myself whether we had the ability to explore new sectors.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDiversification allows you to encounter different experiences that can be useful in sectors you already know. There are also connections in communication and distribution. It helps mitigate risk and allows us to bring experience from newer sectors, such as wine and boating, back into businesses we know better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n\tTo be sure, in 2023 the company, previously known as Calzedonia Group, changed its name to Oniverse to reflect the transformation from an innerwear specialist to an international and diversified group spanning luxury fashion, bridal, wine and yacht-making.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tThe Oniverse\u2019s 40th anniversary party at the Arena di Verona, Italy.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Oniverse<\/p>\n
\n\tThe name, a play on universe and an anagram of the Veronesi surname, was selected through an in-house contest that engaged the company\u2019s employees, signaling their involvement in the evolution of the company.<\/p>\n
\n\tLast year Oniverse invested about 350 million euros in its brands. Veronesi forecast a similar expenditure in the years to come, geared at retail expansion and internationalization.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe U.S. is clearly high on the executive\u2019s agenda \u2014 a market that is both under-explored by his brands and potentially highly lucrative.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe country currently accounts for about 3.9 percent of the overall Oniverse fashion business, or between 140 million and 150 million euros, driven by its retail presence.<\/p>\n
\n\tFor example, Intimissimi currently counts 63 stores in the U.S., a number poised to increase, while Calzedonia, with 30 flagships, could grasp the opportunity in the relatively fragmented swimwear segment, Veronesi contended. Falconeri has seven stores and it\u2019s very much aligned with the American aesthetic sensibility, he opined. As part of the Antonio Marras brand\u2019s international expansion, the designer\u2019s first flagship outside Italy opened in New York\u2019s SoHo in 2025.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tA recent Intimissimi ad campaign titled Ultralight with Cashmere.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Oniverse<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe United States is a major priority, but Europe also offers considerable potential. We are strong in many countries, but there is still substantial room for growth in Germany and France. In innerwear, our competitors are not delivering particularly strong results or offering the same level of competitiveness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe are one of the very few innerwear companies with a vertically integrated structure and our own factories. We have 25 production facilities around the world, in countries including Italy, Sri Lanka, Croatia, Bulgaria, Egypt and Tunisia, employing around 30,000 people.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe built and have managed this supply chain for many years. It requires a significant investment in human resources and capital, but it is a major strength compared with our competitors. It gives us speed, flexibility and a different level of quality control,\u201d the chairman explained.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tInside Signorvino\u2019s store in Milan.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Oniverse<\/p>\n
\n\tThere is a lot on Veronesi\u2019s and the company\u2019s plate.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOur objective is to strengthen the brands we already have,\u201d he said, waving off the possibility of new mergers and acquisitions.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe most recent, in 2023, was yachting company Cantiere del Pardo, founded in 1973 and specializing in sailing boats.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere are no specific criteria [when selecting a target] beyond identifying growth potential \u2014 whether it\u2019s a very small business or one that needs to be restructured,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n\tIt follows the acquisition, in 2022, of an 80 percent stake in Marras\u2019 namesake company, providing the group\u2019s retail and production experience, in addition to its financial muscle, to develop the brand, which has since opened key stores in luxury streets in Rome, Florence, as well as New York.<\/p>\n
\n\tAcknowledging Marras could be viewed as something of a wild card in Oniverse\u2019s portfolio, he characterized the acquisition as an exciting challenge.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt will never become a very large company, but it can become an interesting niche player in fashion\u2026.Fashion is not always shining for its creativity these days. At Marras [we have that but] the business also needs to become more functional and improve its performance and sustainability,\u201d Veronesi said.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tBackstage at the Antonio Marras spring 2027 show.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlexia Stok\/WWD<\/p>\n
\n\tHis most pressing goal is to ensure an iron-clad generational handover at Oniverse. \u201cOne of the factors that has helped us grow has been giving space to young people,\u201d the chairman said.<\/p>\n
\n\tHis sons are all involved in the family business, as members of the board and in various executive roles. Matteo serves as chief executive officer of Intimissimi and U.S. international markets director; Marcello is CEO of Cantiere del Pardo, and Federico is CEO of Signorvino and Oniwives, the company\u2019s wine division. Veroniesi\u2019s stepdaughter Silvia Falconi is creative director and CEO of Atelier Em\u00e9.<\/p>\n
\n\tVeronesi ruled out a stock market listing in the near-term but remained open to future opportunities, a trait that has guided the executive throughout his career.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tSandro Veronesi, chairman of Oniverse.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Oniverse<\/p>\n
\n\tThe group consistently ranked high among the companies with the highest potential to go public, according to several editions of the now-defunct yearly study \u201cLe Quotabili,\u201d which Milan-based consultancy Pambianco Strategie di Impresa conducted until 2024.<\/p>\n
#Oniverses #Sandro #Veronesi #Reflects #Groups #40th #Anniversary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MILAN \u2014 \u201cOne of the lessons I\u2019ve learned is the importance of patience,\u201d said Sandro Veronesi, reflecting on his 40-year-long journey at the helm of Italian multibrand group Oniverse. Established… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[242],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editors-pick"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock789.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock789.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock789.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock789.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock789.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock789.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock789.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock789.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock789.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}