"This was 1986, when the most expensive pair in the U.S. "My cheapest pair of jeans was $100," Rosso remembers. American department store buyers weren't so convinced. market, he made an early bet that the style-conscious, flush youngsters of that Wall Street boom era would pay a premium for jeans that were brand-new but looked vintage, thanks to some manufactured wear and tear. In 1985 Rosso sensed Goldschmied wanted to focus on his more successful brands and bought his partner out of Diesel for $500,000 and his interest in their other labels. The fashion pack didn't warm to the unusual, unglamorous name right away, but Rosso is nothing if not patient.ĭiesel was one of the smallest of a slew of denim labels under the Moltex banner at the time, including the popular Daily Blue and Replay lines. In 1978 the duo renamed the company Diesel, a nod to the decade's oil crises, when diesel suddenly became a viable fuel alternative. By 22, thanks in part to a $4,000 loan from his father, Rosso was 40% owner of Moltex. He remembers rubbing the stiff denim on concrete to soften it up, or distress it-a technique he doesn't take credit for inventing, though he was among the first to use it.Īt 20 Rosso joined Moltex, an Italian manufacturing outfit owned by Adriano Goldschmied, an early denim guru who went on to found his own popular line, AG Jeans. Soon he was charging his friends a few dollars a pair. At 15, hunched over his mother's Singer sewing machine, he made his first pair of jeans: bell-bottoms, with 16 1/2 inch flares. In his teenage years, Rosso admits to having been more concerned with girls and his electric guitar than academics, enrolling in a textile manufacturing course at Padua's Istituto Marconi because he'd heard it was easy. He discovered it was pregnant, so instead of handing it to his mother to be added to a pie, he started an impromptu breeding business for pocket money. As a child on his parents' farm in Italy's Po Valley, he was given a rabbit by a schoolmate. ROSSO'S FIRST BUSINESS VENTURE came long before Diesel, which he cofounded at 23. "The size of the group is quite nice," he says, before pausing. He's just not sure if that's what he wants. "We would've needed the banks." He's aware that to compete with Qatari money, not to mention fashion's two French kingpins- LVMH and PPR-he may have to consider a public offering to fuel further acquisitions. "That was an important investment," he says, perched on a $6,000 white linen sofa from Diesel's home furnishings line. The unsuccessful bid marked the first time Rosso seriously considered seeking outside funding. He was the runner-up, he says, losing out to an investment vehicle backed by Qatar’s royal family, who reportedly paid around $860 million. In 2012 Rosso tried to buy Italian couture house Valentino, put up for sale by London private equity outfit Permira. In fact, the Marni acquisition followed a rare disappointment for Only the Brave. Fashion pundits wonder what Only the Brave will scoop up next in the increasingly competitive industry landgrab that has, in the past two years, seen Italian jeweler Bulgari, suitmaker Brioni and menswear label Gianfranco Ferré sold to larger foreign investors. Through a holding company called Only the Brave, Rosso has spent the last decade snapping up majority stakes in small, prestigious fashion houses all across Europe: Paris-based Maison Martin Margiela, Amsterdam's Viktor & Rolf and, this past December, Milanese label Marni. Rosso owns 100% of Diesel, which has evolved from a jeans specialist to a much broader lifestyle brand (T-shirts to shades to fancy chairs) in the 35 years since its inception. He debuts on this year's list of the world's billionaires with an estimated net worth of $3 billion. From his swanky office, decorated like a pricey bachelor pad, he presides over a fashion empire that has made this farmer's son a billionaire. Rosso's desk overlooks Diesel's hulking campus, a maze of glass and steel surrounded by vineyards an hour outside Venice. Now 57, the father of six claims he's retired from the party circuit, but his graying blond curls, skinny jeans and knuckles tattooed with his initials give him the air of an aging rock star.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |