Design Holding to grow with Designers Company

Design Holding expanded its portfolio with yesterday’s official acquisition of Designers Company, a Danish Group owning, among others, the brands Menu and by Lassen as well as the rights to iconic products, designed by historic designers such as Ib Kofod-Larsen, Arthur Umanoff, Morgens Lassen and Flemming Lassen. Daniel Lalonde, the CEO of the Group, had anticipated this move to MFF on the occasion of Fendi Casa's new flagship store’s opening in Milan's Piazza della Scala on April 13. «We are studying a new entry into the Group,» he said on that occasion. The Group, controlled by Investindustrial and The Carlyle Group, which already owns the brands B&B Italia, Flos, Louis Poulsen, Arclinea, Maxalto, Azucena and the online platform YDesign Group, a year ago created with Fendi the joint venture FF Design for the home sector, which now materialized in this majestic retail space, a first step towards a global and widespread development of Fendi Casa.

«We have been working hard on this project and I am happy to see it materialized,» Serge Brunshwig, CEO of Fendi, told MFF during the store's opening night. «The initiative was supervised by Silvia Venturini Fendi, there is a lot of expertise behind it. She has brought together many important designers and we all have great expectations on this sector, we target all markets worldwide». The next steps for the brand will be the opening of a store in Miami and one in Shanghai. Design Holding will also focus on North America and China, as explained by CEO Daniel Lalonde in this interview, commenting on the just released 2021 results. The Group achieved pro-forma revenues amounting to 700.3 million euros (a figure that includes the 12 months of YDesign Group, which was acquired only last June), an increase of 21.1% on 2020. The EBITDA stood at 190.3 million euros (+27.7%).

What does this acquisition represent for the Group?

The acquisition of Designers Company is an important step in our growth process. On the one hand, it allows us to strengthen our presence in a strategic market such as Scandinavian design, on the other hand, to expand our product offering by including new and complementary categories to the existing ones, such as accessories, for which we expect great growth potential. Thanks to an iconic portfolio of heritage collections alongside contemporary products, the Designers Company brands target a very wide audience, and this will allow us to get closer to Millennials as well.

Design Holding performed well in 2021...

The result demonstrates the quality of our brands and the validity of our strategy, which aims to enhance the unique characteristics of the brands, putting them in a position to express their full creative potential. During the year we expanded our brand portfolio, strengthened the e-commerce and the visibility of the brands on social channels, launched new iconic products, result of the constant search by our brands for new materials and forms of design. We won prestigious projects in the field of high-end contract, including the Bvlgari Hotel and the Bourse de Commerce in Paris (French headquarters of Collection Pinault, ed.), and I feel like the best is yet to come. For the near future, I see new business opportunities that we are ready to seize.

Speaking of developments, what are your expectations for Fendi Casa?

Our goal is to develop the Fendi Casa collection in total harmony with the Fendi Maison. Here, in the first Fendi Casa flagship store, the aesthetic codes evoke the universe of the brand, welcoming the visitor into a space with a sophisticated and contemporary interior.

How is the joint venture you created a year ago going?

I am very satisfied. With Fendi we are aligned from a strategic and objective point of view, sharing a long-term vision.

Are there new areas in which you want to grow with the brand?

The opening of the first boutique will be followed by a series of international inaugurations: we will start this summer with the opening of a flagship store in Miami, followed by Shanghai, up to a total of 30/40 openings under the Fendi Casa brand, both direct and in partnership, planned over the next few years. North America and Asia represent our key markets, with a particular focus on China. We want to be a global brand but with a very selective distribution. Stores amplify the fashion brand experience.

There are rumours of a listing on the stock exchange for the Design Holding Group. Is the time ripe?

I think this could be an important project, but it is up to the investors to decide. My focus, however, remains on developing these beautiful brands and making sure that the company is ready when the time comes. And it might happen someday.

Do you have any upcoming projects on your eight brands?

For each one we have just drawn up a long-term business plan. We are focused on the end consumer and the enhancement of our brands. Our goal is clear: to be the global leader in high-end design, with a portfolio of companies that reach their stakeholders through a multi-channel approach. In order to reach this goal, we are pursuing a strategy based on four pillars: increasing the desirability of the brands, promoting international expansion with a focus on North America and China, getting closer to the consumer by increasing direct-to-consumer sales, improving brand websites and the in-store experience, as well as enhancing our presence in the wholesale channel. In the US, we have already launched e-commerce for B&B Italia and Flos —for the latter in Europe as well— and this will be the case for the other brands. Finally, we want to strengthen ourselves in the luxury contract sector.

Flos, Patricia Urquiola to design Almendra

A new collection inspired by the shape of an almond and in perfect harmony with nature. Flos (a Design Holding Group brand, ed.) has called upon Patricia Urquiola to design the Almendra lighting line, a modular, customizable lighting system designed for contract environments. The concept starts from the idea of a functional light, which comes from essential light sources. Almendra translates, also in its name, the shape of an almond into a design object.

The edible seed has therefore inspired this module that comes to life through a central stem, either linear or curved, from which the shells, similar to those of an open fruit, unfold. The solutions are with three, four or six lights, which emerge from a source positioned in the central pivot and diffused along the petals. The project was made with a polycarbonate derived from a paper by-product. Its entire life cycle, from materials to disposal, is defined according to strict criteria. (All rights reserved)