During a period of challenges and transitions for the luxury industry, it’s the bold thinkers and the risk-takers who are making it through. We speak to three such industry players: a retailer who not only recovered her business but started investing in other brands; a CEO aspiring to build the world’s best art de vivre brand; and the creative director who bought back Spain’s heritage brand Delpozo and is slowly but surely turning it into a commercial success globally. 

Their scopes of work might vary, yet they are driven by similar values: a commitment to putting their clients first, focusing on their niches – and indulging in creativity.

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1.
The Moderniser
Joaquín Trías
Creative director, Delpozo

Spain’s fashion heritage might be associated with the likes of Cristóbal Balenciaga and Enrique Loewe Roessberg, but those in the know will also recognise the name Jesús del Pozo. The Spanish couturier founded Delpozo in Madrid in 1974 and helped to shape the country’s fashion history.

After his death in 2011, the label was acquired by Spanish conglomerate Perfumes y Diseño. But after a few years the group decided to cease operations, turning Delpozo into a sleeping beauty brand.  

Joaquín Trías, a former economist and self-taught designer, came in last year as creative director with a plan to revive it. Applying the lessons he learned from running his own fashion label, he attracted new investors, adjusted the label’s pricing and began refining the Delpozo look – together with stylist Kate Young, Trías has toned down the embellishment and introduced a lightness and ease to the label’s collections. A chance encounter with actress Tilda Swinton resulted in the creation of Obertura, the brand’s debut film, set in a blossoming garden and starring Swinton in Delpozo’s sharp pant suits.  

Trías has also been adamant about centring the brand in its home city of Madrid. At a time when Spain is enjoying economic growth well above the eurozone average, he couldn’t have chosen a better time. Here, he tells Monocle about his ambitions to turn Delpozo into the country’s flagship luxury brand.

What challenges has Delpozo faced in the past? 
Delpozo always had this magical aura that everybody recognised. But the price point was wrong: the products were in a niche of a niche, with prices sometimes being even higher than those by the most established luxury brands. The designs also felt quite stiff, with too much volume and embellishment. They couldn’t be worn day-to-day, meaning it was impossible to create the right volumes to survive. I faced a lot of these challenges when I was running my own label and it taught me that the product comes before communications and glamour. 

Given these issues, how did you then convince investors to come on board?  
Here in Spain there’s a culture of investment in construction and tourism but not so much in luxury fashion. Trying to convince investors took two and a half years. It’s important to consider who you partner with: it’s not just about money but also about the sensibilities of your partners and whether they’ll let you develop your vision. Perfumes y Diseño still owns a minority stake and the perfume licence.  

Was rebuilding an atelier in Madrid and a network of artisans a big part of your process? 
Delpozo was always known for incredible craftsmanship; – everything was created to couture standards. I started approaching the artisans in Granada, in Toledo and in Galicia who used to work for the brand. It can sometimes be difficult to recover those teams but when they heard that Delpozo was back, everybody was so excited.

When the team was back in place, how did you go about redesigning the collections?  
Delpozo can be identified by two clear characteristics: beauty and colour. There’s so much room for creativity within that. We’re not [limited by] a specific silhouette, a specific volume, or concept; it’s just about impact. We have an opportunity to change evening dressing. I’m obsessed with designing separates; I love seeing women like Tilda [Swinton] wearing a jacket and trousers at galas where everyone else is wearing big gowns. 

Does the brand’s Spanish heritage play a role in the new strategy?
It’s something that we’re really focusing on as a team. We want to make Madrid our territory, we want to own the city and export it to the world, [particularly now] that everybody is talking about our city and it has become so much more international. We’re always trying to introduce a certain Spanish flair to both our product and our imagery. There’s this concept I love in Madrid and Barcelona about “the extraordinary everyday”. Spanish women really love fashion but there’s always an element of reality and practicality in the way they get dressed. It’s never too dressy or too dramatic, yet they always look pristine. That’s the Delpozo woman. 

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2.
The Empire Builder
Lauren Santo Domingo
Founder, Moda Operandi

In the mid-1990s, Lauren Santo Domingo was one of those lucky New Yorkers who managed to secure a highly coveted assistant position at American Vogue. She could have easily continued climbing the masthead (she was later promoted to be an editor) and enjoying the perks of the job – access to fashion shows, Vogue’s famous samples closet and designers’ inner circles. But she had a different vision, fuelled by her passion for bringing people together. It has long been common knowledge in the fashion industry that her dinner parties – usually involving caviar, stiff martinis and relaxed smoking policies – are not to be missed.

In 2011 she co-founded Moda Operandi, an online trunk show business that offers customers the kind of privileges previously only available to magazine editors: meeting the designers and ordering full looks straight from the runway. It’s a novel business model that was quickly embraced by luxury shoppers worldwide, allowing Santo Domingo to expand to new categories such as homeware and raise multiple rounds of funding.

Like many e-commerce businesses, there have also been setbacks, from severe sales slowdowns to the closure of all physical showrooms during the pandemic. But unlike some of its competitors, Moda Operandi has been able to weather the storm, buying out its private equity investors, hiring a new executive team and continuing to offer some of the best curations in the market. 

Today the company “has never been stronger”, according to the ambitious entrepreneur. She has also been taking advantage of the renewed stability at Moda Operandi to take on more challenges, as artistic director of Tiffany & Co. Home and founder of a new fund, St. Dominique Capital. Her first venture? An investment in The Row, a label that is quickly becoming the pinnacle of American luxury. Here, she explains how she plans to keep up the momentum.

Tell us about the initial idea for Moda Operandi.
The fashion industry has really enriched my life, and it’s [an experience] I’m always happy to share. I wanted to give customers first choice because they enjoy fashion and want to be part of the beginning of the cycle. We’re still the only ones who are making the fashion runways accessible and letting people experience the head-to-toe runway look rather than just seeing a pair of trousers hanging on a rail.

How important is meeting these customers in person? Are there any plans to reopen your physical showrooms?
During the pandemic we weren’t doing anything in-person for more than two years, so we decided to pause that side of the business. But now, we’ll be focusing on opening in the US; New York, Los Angeles and Miami are definitely a priority. Following Brexit and the changes in Hong Kong, those markets have become less of a focus for us given the increasing difficulties in doing business there.

What is your take on the broader luxury industry challenges at the moment? Is there an effect on Moda Operandi?
When Moda launched, department stores had all the power but then there was a shift, with power being handed to the luxury conglomerates. Now they’re both really struggling [to cope] with their sizes. For us, there’s an advantage in being independent and more nimble. A lot of the struggles that the industry is having are also a result of [prioritising] hype versus quality and relying only on big names.

You are just as passionate about homeware. Tell us about the business’s expansion into the category.
We used to do these beautiful tablescapes to stand out from the typical fashion events and people were asking to buy the tablecloths and plates from our parties, so we launched our own capsule collections and built the category from there. Typically, entertaining has been attached to etiquette and a very traditional, old world. What we did wasn’t about formality or rules; it was focused on colour, great fabrics and creative expression.

Is that what drew you to take on the artistic director role at Tiffany & Co Home?
There’s a side of me that appreciates a real American sensibility – I’m a devotee of that world and Tiffany is such an iconic, heritage brand that’s embedded in the American psyche. This blue box has become synonymous with so many life milestones and there’s an opportunity to see this brand translated for the next generations.

You’ve also been investing in some of the brands you’ve been working with. Why did you decide to also add investor to your CV?
I don’t care where a venture capitalist sits, they’re never going to have the intel and the data on these brands that I do. I have a front-row seat and the ability to understand whether a brand is a one-hit wonder, or has some creative longevity. We are also looking at investing via Moda Operandi, as we have so much at our disposal to push these businesses, from a wholesale force, to merchandising and warehousing experience. Taking an equity stake just incentivises us to be a better partner.

Do you think that fashion brands will be better off partnering with industry veterans rather than private equity investors? What was your experience with Moda?
We were all drawn to the private equity boom for a while – and don’t get me wrong, it was fun while it lasted. Everyone thought that they could become a unicorn but there’s a reason why unicorns are so rare. At their core, our businesses need to be about customers and designers. We put our private equity days behind us at Moda and since then we’ve been able to really hit our stride. Private equity investors had some success with the grocery sector in Canada and they thought that they could apply the same logic to fashion, given the seasonality of the product. But our industry doesn’t work like that; this business is about instinct and relationships. We were lucky to get out alive.

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3.
The Fresh Thinker
Giulio Bergamaschi
CEO, Acqua di Parma

With its exposed ventilation ducts and industrial setting in southwestern Milan, Acqua di Parma’s HQ feels a little tech corp – surprising for a century-old perfume and lifestyle brand known for its sun-soaked yellow packaging and zesty fragrances. In fact, you’d half expect the Acqua di Parma mothership to occupy an opulent central-Italian castello.

While the company’s CEO, Giulio Bergamaschi, doesn’t want you to reconsider everything you think you know about Acqua di Parma, he has been leading a quiet revolution since joining the business in 2023. He might keep returning to words like “consistency” and “heritage”, but he is intent on introducing fresh perspectives on the brand’s signature products and inviting designers and artists to “play” with its perfume bottles and accessories.

While the 1990s saw a short-lived push into leather goods and bags (at the time, Acqua di Parma was part-owned by former Ferrari supremo Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and Tod’s chairman Diego della Valle), Bergamaschi is looking to turn back to craft. Under his watch, crockery, glassware and other home goods have been reintroduced, including a Murano glass collection in collaboration with French-Iranian architect India Mahdavi.

Founded by Baron Carlo Magnani in 1916 in the central Italian city from which it takes its name, Acqua di Parma started out distributing its flagship Colonia (cologne) through tailors’ shops. It has travelled some distance since then. Long based in Milan – and acquired by lvmh in 2001 – the brand is now eyeing new markets worldwide, opening standalone boutiques in cities such as Riyadh and New Delhi, and continuing to diversify its offer.

Bergamaschi, who took the reins after 19 years at L’Oréal and a short stint at LVMH stablemate Loro Piana, has been developing what he calls a “polysensorial” strategy, including a wide variety of products you can touch, see and smell. His vision extends Acqua di Parma beyond its signature perfume ranges and into every aspect of the art of living.

Speaking from his Milan office, filled with books and watercolour paintings by Acqua di Parma collaborator Luca Scacchetti, he tells MONOCLE how he plans to achieve his ambitious goals, all the while staying true to the house’s playful Italian spirit.

Acqua di Parma is a big brand but it sounds like you want to return to its roots.
Craftsmanship and the art of living have been at the heart of Acqua di Parma for a very long time. Since I arrived, we have looked to expand this dimension and find a space for it in our boutiques. It would be very difficult to give these pieces the right place in a wholesale shop or a department store.

Do you see these products as being sold solely in your standalone shops?
They’re going to be at very selected top stores, including our boutiques, of course, and places such as Harrods and Le Bon Marché. The role of our boutiques is to offer the pinnacle of the Acqua di Parma experience: the best immersion in the Acqua di Parma universe, the best advice, the widest offer, plus these masterpieces that are only available in very limited [quantities].

Why are limited-edition items worth the investment?
Today people are increasingly looking for creativity. This is something extremely important, not only in Europe and in the West but also in Asia. If you think about markets in the Far East, you might [assume] that there is standardisation. But these days, even if they have a huge scale, they’re looking for something special.

There is a concept in Italy that has always inspired me, called artigianato artistico (artistic craftsmanship). It’s an idea of craftsmanship in which the human dimension is very present, not only because there is the perfection or imperfection but also because the human injects creativity into the craftsmanship – and that’s why it becomes artistico. Is it art? Not exactly. Is it artiaganato? It’s more than that. Is it design? It’s not 100 per cent industrial. This is something that inspires me very much – and it is a north star that we are going to follow in the future.

What’s your retail strategy for Acqua di Parma?
Before looking at geographical expansion, we’re thinking about our current distribution and improving the shopping experience. We need to be more and more Italian but also [embrace] some local cultural codes. Of course, we are an Italian maison, so we need to be consistent and stand for Italian heritage and Italian values. But that does not mean that we need to standardise our image everywhere we go.

Fragrance is at the heart of what you do but it’s now a crowded marketplace. Has that made you change your approach?
It has only reinforced the importance of being consistent with heritage and working on an original value proposition. This is where I can bring a certain added value in making clear who we are, redefining our original angle and increasing the house’s creativity. Acqua di Parma has always stood for elegance, sophistication, craftsmanship and timelessness. But it is Italian – and, being Italian, it is also [synonymous] with a certain light-heartedness and playfulness.

This is embodied in all our new projects. You can see it in the Venetian holiday collection that we developed with India Mahdavi; and you can see it in the Chapeau [hat-shaped] candle with French designer Dorothée Meilichzon. Both those projects started from our iconic art deco fragrance bottles but we played with the patterns, colours and glass volumes.

Do you have an ultimate goal for the business?
To become the most desirable art of living brand – with an Italian soul, of course.