Marenzi (Herno): 'No forcing and investment in quality: this is how fashion will overcome the crisis'
In an almost 'indecipherable' context, for the president of Herno (which is set to close the year with 180 million in revenues), it is crucial to be able to find the balance between one's own history and innovation, and to seize market signals without imposing anything on customers
3' min read
3' min read
He was among the first - or perhaps the very first, therefore unheeded - to sound the alarm about the uncontrolled growth in the price lists of high-end brands, which was bound to drive away many customers, regardless of their means. Claudio Marenzi raised the issue at the beginning of the year, when a slowdown in the sector's players seemed unlikely, if not impossible.
Perhaps because we live in an accelerated world (all of us, not just the fashion industry), the slowdown has instead already arrived since the end of the first quarter and from the second onwards has spared almost no one, luxury included. The president of Herno, however, considers it meagre consolation to have foreseen the drop in consumption, at least in part linked to the price madness, because the slowdown in sales is a problem for the entire textile-fashion industry, which Marenzi knows well, having been president of Sistema moda Italia, Pitti Immagine and Confindustria Moda.
The damage seems to be done. And now?
"Going back is in fact impossible, for those who have applied too many mark-ups in recent years, partly taking advantage of the post-Covid rebound. The increases are not justified either on an equal product basis, since they exceed inflation, or, perhaps more importantly, because they do not accurately reflect an improvement in the quality and stylistic value of a product. I don't want to lecture anyone, I just want to note that the choice we made for Herno and even more so for Montura, the clothing brand we entered in 2021 and which we now control 55%, has rewarded us. Our sales are more than stable and we perceive greater trust and loyalty from end customers, which we can monitor thanks to the mono-brand shops, and from wholesale customers, the owners of multi-brand and department stores. who in turn reap the rewards, in terms of sell-out, of Herno's quality-price ratio'.
How will 2024 close?
"Revenues will exceed 180 million, and for 2025, having already received the spring-summer orders and having already presented part of the autumn-winter 25-26 collection, I am cautiously optimistic. The external unknowns are so many that there is no longer even any point in listing them: this world of ours is not only accelerated but in many ways, geopolitically speaking, indecipherable. All the more reason to focus on the variables that we can control, finding the right mix between the courage to invest, even in new areas, and loyalty to one's own history and values'.
Are you referring to Herno's new product categories and Montura?
"For decades Herno concentrated almost exclusively on outerwear and wholesale distribution. Then we started opening single-brand shops and at the same time experimenting in knitwear and beyond. We also introduced trousers, which are growing by 200% season after season. We follow the same path as for the other categories: quality of raw materials, Italian taste and style, investments to improve efficiency and sustainability, without getting caught up in delusions of grandeur or jumps of greed over margins. We must also remain very lucid in grasping the signals coming from consumers to admit oversights and mistakes, which are always possible'.
