Loro Piana S.p.A. is an Italian luxury fashion brand specialized in textile manufacturing and ready-to-wear clothing headquartered in Milan, Italy. Since its start as a merchant of cashmere, vicuña, linen and merino fabrics, Loro Piana expanded to design knitwear, leather goods, footwear, fragrance and related accessories. The company has three divisions: textiles, high fashion and luxury goods. Its core branding includes the Loro Piana family signature and coat-of-arms, depicting a European beech tree, a golden eagle, and two diagonal Stars of Italy, framed by flower thistles.
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Textiles |
| Founded | 1924, in Quarona, Italy |
| Founder | Pietro Loro Piana |
| Headquarters | , Italy |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Damien Bertrand (CEO) |
| Revenue | €1 billion (2019) |
| €135 million (2019) | |
| Parent | LVMH |
| Website | LoroPiana.com |
It was founded in 1924 by Pietro Loro Piana, an Italian engineer, in the Quarona commune of Piedmont. Since 2013, the company has been majority-owned by Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), a French multinational fashion conglomerate. Loro Piana is one of the largest purveyors of cashmere in the world, producing 14.8 million feet of fabric in 2012.[1][2]
History
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Originally from Trivero, the Loro Piana family started as merchants of wool at the beginning of the 19th century.[3] In the second half of that century, the family moved its activity to Valsesia and founded the wool spinning mill Fratelli Lora e Compagnia, followed by the wool spinning mill Zignone & C. in Quarona at the beginning of the 20th century.[3] In 1924, the engineer Pietro Loro Piana founded the company Loro Piana & C. the town. After taking the lead of the company in the 1960s, Franco Loro Piana, grandson of Pietro, started to export high-quality fabrics to Europe, America and Japan.[4]
During the 1970s, the company was directed by Franco's sons, Sergio and Pier Luigi.[3] Their focus was on top-quality fabric development, including cashmere and extra-fine wools.[1] Sergio and Pier Luigi's research gave birth to the Tasmanian fabric.[1] In the 1980s, Sergio and Pier Luigi started to diversify the business, launching their first ready-to-wear collection and creating the luxury goods division.[3] The interior division for luxury home goods was launched in 2006.[5]
In July 2013, LVMH acquired an 80% stake in Loro Piana, becoming their majority shareholder, through a $2.6 billion cash and debt deal.[6][3] Sergio Loro Piana died the same year.[7] In December 2013, LVMH announced that Antoine Arnault would become chairman of Loro Piana.[8] In 2017, LVMH acquired another 5% stake in the company.[9][10] In November 2021, Damien Bertrand was appointed as CEO of the brand.[11] Since 2022, Loro Piana has established its headquarters at Cortile della Seta in Milan's Brera district.[4]
Stores
editAs of July 2022, Loro Piana distributes its products in Europe, North America, the Middle East, China, South Korea, Indonesia and Japan.[12][13] It has a total of 145 stores worldwide as of October 2024.[3]
Operations
editThe company is vertically integrated and handles all stages of production, from the harvesting of natural fibres to the delivery of the finished product to stores.[11] Loro Piana reported €700 million in revenue in 2012, with the company growing to €1 billion of sales, seven years later, in 2019.[11][6]
Supply chain
editLoro Piana operates a complex and global supply chain within its textile business.[11] The company reached an agreement with the government of Peru and local villages in the Andes in 1997 to only source vicuña fiber from living animals raised in the area.[2] A decade later, in 2008, Loro Piana helped finance Peru's first private nature preserve for vicuñas, as part of their business agreement.[2] In December 2021, the company gave clients and buyers full traceability – from sheep to store – of their products online, according to The New York Times.[14] In March 2024, Bloomberg News criticised the company's compensation agreements with local vicuña wool communities for being insufficient and ineffective in combatting subsistence farming.[15] According to the Financial Times, both the brand and local Peruvian community defended their initial contract as mutually beneficial.[3] Loro Piana announced enhanced supplier audits in December 2024 to ensure greater compliance with local compensation agreements.[16]
See also
edit- Zegna, Brunello Cucinelli, and Hermès
- Vitale Barberis Canonico, an Italian fabric mill
References
edit- ^ a b c Quick, Harriet (2015-12-03). "Loro Piana Preserves Its Heritage and Looks Forward to the Future". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
- ^ a b c Trotter, Katie (2020-04-23). "10 Things You Need to Know About Loro Piana". Vogue Arabia. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
- ^ a b c d e f g Beresford, Jessica (2024-10-01). "Shhhhh! The stealth-wealth brand Loro Piana is celebrating 100 years". Financial Times. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
- ^ a b Laura May Todd (14 April 2022), Loro Piana Gets a New Headquarters and Store T.
- ^ Sanderson, Rachel (2020-01-16). "How Loro Piana serves 'nomadic elite' with €7,000 cashmere coats". www.ft.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- ^ a b "Prêt à porter: LVMH s'offre 80% du groupe Loro Piana – L'Express avec L'Expansion". lexpansion.lexpress.fr. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ^ Zargani, Luisa (20 December 2013). "Sergio Loro Piana Dead at 65". WWD. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
- ^ Miles Socha (5 December 2013). "Younger Arnaults Gaining Greater Power at LVMH". WWD. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
- ^ "Loro Piana, la famiglia cede un altro 5% di quote". La Stampa. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ^ "Loro Piana, un altro 5% ai francesi – Diario di Biella". biella.diariodelweb.it. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ^ a b c d Miles Socha and Luisa Zargani (28 October 2021), Loro Piana Enters New Era With New CEO Women's Wear Daily.
- ^ "Loro Piana opens second New York store". Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- ^ "Loro Piana Indonesia".
- ^ Friedman, Vanessa (2021-12-12). "Do You Know Where Your Sweater Came From?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2024-09-08. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
- ^ Rochabrun, Marcelo. Bloomberg News (14 March 2024), The Secret Price of Quiet Luxury. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ "Loro Piana Told Peru Officials in April It Doesn't Verify Vicuña Worker Pay". Bloomberg News. 2024-12-20. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
External links
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