Hi, and welcome back to Line Sheet. I’m back in Paris after two days in London, where I was reintroduced to grey skies and geopolitically influenced foot traffic patterns. It was nice to see many of you. I’ll be back soon!

Today is a real one for all those Inner Circle diehards. (Upgrade here to improve your life.) Along with a Night of the Living Dead–inspired designer musical chairs update (we stan Christopher Kane, remain confused by Matthew M. Williams), you’ll find my totally biased analysis of Rickie De Sole’s new gigs at Sandbridge Capital and… Air Mail!

For the main event, I’m looking more closely at the business of Diego Della Valle–backed Schiaparelli, which has 16x’ed revenue in just six years. Whoa!

Tomorrow on Fashion People, we’re taking a break from capital-F Fashion with Jesse Derris, president of communications and marketing supergroup Orchestra and founder of Derris. Jesse and I have been working together on stories for nearly 15 years, and I’ve always admired his operational talent, (general) honesty, and ability to understand how the idea of “brand” is changing in real time. Jesse mostly works with, and invests in, non-fashion brands, but the industry could learn a lot from him. Listen here and here.

Mentioned in this issue: Bernard Arnault, Daniel Roseberry, Pieter Mulier, Loro Piana’s Summer Walk loafers, Marco Zanini, Claudia Winkleman, Phoebe Philo, Remo Ruffini, Delphine Bellini, the Victoria & Albert Museum, Delphine Arnault, Nicolas Di Felice, Thom Browne, Place Vendôme, Chase Infiniti, Christian Lacroix, Bertrand Guyon, Pietro Beccari, John Galliano, Marisa Berenson, and many more…

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

Quietly powering the best in luxury.

LEARN MORE

And now, on to the main event…

There was plenty to be impressed by at the preview of Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the Victoria & Albert Museum on Tuesday night. Of course, there was the incredibly thorough and elegantly organized exhibit depicting the life and work of Elsa Schiaparelli—and, by extension, the work of Daniel Roseberry, the Texan designer behind the recent revival of the brand, which is controlled by Tod’s Group chairman Diego Della Valle. Schiaparelli underwrote the show, as many fashion brands are inclined to do these days. However, the prestige of the V&A gave it more weight than if they had hired a curator and staged it themselves.

There were also the black, glossy banquet tables adorned with surrealist tableware (a gold hand cupping a tiny mountain of sea salt). And the food! (I won’t run down the menu here; just know there was a gold-foiled chocolate Dada face filled with cherries.) As one guest told me, Della Valle wasn’t going to settle for gala slop. And then there was the notable number of A-listers wrangled on a random Tuesday night in London. One Battle After Another’s Chase Infiniti came straight from a guest appearance on Claudia Winkleman’s talk show. Marisa Berenson, the granddaughter of Schiaparelli, sat by Roseberry’s side.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

Turning influence into ROI.

LEARN MORE

As I used my spoon to crack open the dessert, I noted that a significant portion of the guests were also dressed in Schiaparelli they had purchased, not borrowed. Indeed, the label is one of the few sleeping beauty brands to be genuinely resuscitated in recent years—a practice that dates back to when the Wertheimers and Karl Lagerfeld brought back Chanel in the early 1980s; Bernard Arnault followed up later with Dior, Givenchy, and others. But over the past two decades, market consolidation and changes in consumer sentiment have made waking a sleeping beauty more difficult. Which is why it’s so impressive that Roseberry has managed to build a nearly nonexistent business—generating €6 million in 2020—into an operation that is projected to make north of €100 million this year, according to market sources, on the back of concentrated retail relationships (mostly a shop-in-shop model) and a couple directly owned stores. There are fewer than 10 points of sale globally. (A rep for the company said that, as a private business, it does not disclose financial figures.)

It’s been a long journey for Della Valle, who is credited with transforming his family’s modest shoe factory into an industrial operation that generates more than a billion dollars a year in revenue. He bought the Schiaparelli I.P. all the way back in the mid-2000s, and subsequently recruited executive Delphine Bellini as C.E.O. in 2014. But different attempts at reentrance failed: a one-off season with Christian Lacroix, a year with Marco Zanini, several years with Bertrand Guyon. Nothing stuck.

By the time Della Valle hired Roseberry, once Thom Browne’s right hand, the pandemic was looming. And yet, the impact of his work on the market was somewhat immediate. In 2019, fashion was weighted heavily in favor of merch. While pretty much everyone else was leaning on high-margin t-shirts and sneakers, Roseberry launched with couture, which remains the crux of the business, making up a significant percent of annual revenue, according to a source familiar with the figures. Of course, Elsa Schiaparelli never designed anything but couture. (She closed the business, which will turn 100 next year, in 1954.) But even Roseberry’s ready-to-wear and accessories—eccentric in their styling, leaning heavily into Schiaparelli’s surrealist history—have a preciousness that recalls the famous Place Vendôme salon. (They are also at the higher end of the price spectrum, further limiting accessibility.)

In these early years, Roseberry has stayed remarkably faithful to the house’s original identity, from the treatments to the silhouettes. In recent seasons, the skirt suit—something Elsa was known for—has proliferated, and Roseberry identified the opportunity. The look isn’t for everyone, but that’s precisely the point.

What’s the endgame, though? Recent news events—Nicolas Di Felice leaving Courrèges, John Galliano joining Zara—remind us that there is very little room now for small brands. Richemont-owned Alaïa had a revival under the recently decamped Pieter Mulier, but it will need even more support now that the business has become so reliant on the hit Mary Jane ballet flat. Phoebe Philo is dominating the fashion conversation but required a meaningful investment, from LVMH and others, to get to $30 million in annual sales.

Della Valle has been willing to pour significant funds into supporting Roseberry, but this isn’t an easy time at corporate headquarters. The Tod’s business has been challenged outside the driving loafer in recent years—tastes change, and there are more casual shoe options than ever, including Loro Piana’s famous Summer Walk. Ever since 2024, when Della Valle took Tod’s business private with the support of L Catterton, there has been a tremendous amount of speculation that LVMH might acquire the business.

In theory, Tod’s would round out LVMH’s Italian portfolio, and support its supply chain. My understanding, however, is that there is only a very small chance that will happen someday. L Catterton will look for an exit, but Arnault will only buy Tod’s if it makes sense for the group, not as a way to honor his decades-long friendship with Della Valle. (Remember, the ultrarich don’t have feelings like the rest of us.) A better acquirer might be Remo Ruffini’s Moncler.

Also: Schiaparelli, despite welcoming LVMH executives like Delphine Arnault and Pietro Beccari to its front row every season, is not part of Tod’s. It is Della Valle’s personal project. In order for it to keep growing, he will need to continue investing—in projects like the V&A exhibit, sure, but also capex-heavy direct retail and marketing. The question, I suppose, is whether Della Valle is willing to sacrifice a significant amount of his fortune to create a different sort of legacy.

Okay, you are not getting your money back from Luisaviaroma. The company is liquidating. This is the way it is now, I am sorry. [WWD]

The great Linda Wells talks peptides and more with Molly Sims. [Lipstick on the Rim]

At some point I would like to understand why the co-founders of On are now the C.E.O.s again. [BoF]

Until tomorrow,
Lauren

P.S.: We use affiliate links because we are a business. We may make a couple bucks off them.

Puck founding partner Matt Belloni takes you inside the business of Hollywood, using exclusive reporting and insight to explain the backstories on everything from Marvel movies to the streaming wars.

Puck’s daily art market email, anchored by industry expert Marion Maneker, offers unparalleled access to the mega-auctions and galleries, elite buyers and sellers, and the power players who run this opaque world.

Puck is published by Heat Media LLC. 107 Greenwich St., New York, NY 10006