Otb Group closes 2025 at 1.7 billion revenue, record profitability for Diesel

A starring year between Milan and Paris for the Otb group and the many brands in its portfolio, from Diesel, from which Renzo Rosso's creative and entrepreneurial adventure started, to Maison Margiela and Viktor&Rolf, positioned in the highest fashion segment. Centrality linked not only to events and fashion shows, but also to retail expansion, changes in creative direction in some fashion houses and the consistency of projects linked to sustainability, a far cry from the green washing and social washing that one is forced to observe - with a hint of bitterness - in other sectors and in the fashion textile industry itself.

The Otb group includes the brands Diesel, Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, Marni, Viktor&Rolf, the companies Staff International and Brave Kid, and a stake in the brand Amiri; Renzo Rosso has never denied that he is ready to seize other opportunities and in 2025 there had been rumours of an interest in Versace (later acquired by the Prada group for 1.5 billion) and, more recently, in Alexander McQueen, a rumour that was, however, denied by both the founder (and now chairman) of Otb and Kering, which controls the brand. In charge of the consolidation of the portfolio and the search for efficiency, always combined with creative drives, sometimes daring, was Ubaldo Minelli, managing director of Otb and since July 2025 also of Jil Sander, albeit on an interim basis.

Considering the context, Minelli emphasises the positive aspects of last year: "The results confirm the group's solidity, Maison Margiela's growth trend continues, with sales up by 8.4%, and Diesel's profitability was the highest in ten years, thanks to the repositioning work we have done and of which we are now reaping the benefits". The word satisfaction, however, is banished: 'Renzo Rosso always looks to those who, in our sector and beyond, seem to be doing better than us, and the same goes for all of us,' adds Minelli. 'Turnover for 2025 fell by 4.8% to 1.7 billion: considering the context, we cannot complain too much. But neither can we be content, of course, and we hope that in 2026 the trend will be reversed'. The foundations for a return to growth are rooted in retail investment, as well as support for the supply chain and social and environmental sustainability.

"The substantial stability of the retail channel has not been able to offset the generalised decline in wholesale, which has been close to 15%," emphasises Otb's CEO. "I believe that the trend will not reverse in the future, although multi-brand and department stores will not disappear. Ideally, we aim for wholesale to account for 25-30% of total turnover and this means, for our group, continuing to dedicate resources to the shop network, with openings and fine tuning, we might say. In 2025, total investments reached 64 million and were focused, precisely, on direct channels, with rationalisation work that involved 49 new openings, 58 closures and the relocation of some stores to more strategic positions. Alongside innovation, with major innovation projects, which mainly involved AI and clienteling solutions'.

Also noteworthy is the resilience of the Japanese market (which for Otb represents 27.4% of total business), the growth of North America (+5.9%) and the Middle East (+9%), against a slowdown in the Chinese market and Europe. In 2025 group ebitda and ebit were 237.3 million and 10.1 million respectively, but Minelli emphasises two other positive aspects: 'Profitability ratios have held up despite the drop in turnover and the decision not to adjust upwards the price lists of the various brands, except when necessary due to an increase in raw material costs, for example. This 'value for money' policy is rewarding, we believe: in recent years, some companies have exaggerated with price increases and as soon as the post-Covid euphoria wore off and the global economic and geopolitical unknowns were added, many customers almost fell out of love with fashion. We dream of the opposite, that people perceive the intrinsic value of our products, made of quality, creativity and respect for people and territories, and that they continue to desire them, also thanks to a price perceived as fair'. Extremely topical is Otb's support to the supply chain, in which Renzo Rosso has been a pioneer: the group has reconfirmed its investments, continuing the C.A.S.H. project, launched in 2013 to guarantee financial support to the most virtuous partners, and since the start of the programme the total volume of funding has grown to around 700 million. "We have also actively contributed to the working tables set up by the trade associations that led to the drafting of the Legality Protocol for fashion production chains," Minelli concludes.