Diane von Furstenburg’s operations are coming back in-house after four years of the brand being operated externally by Chinese distributor Glamel.
DVF announced the change on Friday afternoon, along with the appointment of Graziano de Boni, who was an executive at luxury brands including Valentino and Prada before founding a consulting firm in 2018. De Boni has been at the brand since October 2023, but DVF is only now making his appointment public.
DVF has a long history, dating back to the brand’s founding in 1970 and the release of its iconic wrap dress in 1974. But in 2020, pandemic struggles led DVF to be close to collapse or a sale. CEO Sandra Campos resigned, and the brand closed 12 of its 13 stores, laid off half its employees and cut its production in half. It handed the reins of the company to its Chinese distributor, Glamel, and switched its focus to a primarily China-focused wholesale business.
The move paid off. In 2021, DVF posted a profit for the first time and continued to work toward stability and success. Now, it’s time to take operations back under U.S. control.
“Graziano has spent considerable time this year working with the product and focusing on building the brand strategy,” founder and designer Diane von Furstenberg said in a statement. “To execute on this strategy, it was necessary that our operations return in-house. I am very excited to support Graziano’s leadership. [He plans to] redesign the company and surround himself with talent that understands the zeitgeist of today and respects and appreciates the richness of the assets of the past.”
DVF will be fully operated in-house by the end of the year, but it will continue its relationship with Glamel, which will sell and distribute DVF products throughout China. The brand has had multiple CEOs since appointing its first CEO, Paolo Riva, in 2015. Riva resigned only 18 months later. Since then, Sandra Campos and Gabby Hirata have held the position, which now goes to di Boni.
The last few years have been a tough market for many luxury brands. Over the summer, brands including Burberry, Hugo Boss, Richemont and even LVMH reported earnings that showed signs of a continuously slowing market. In October 2022, a year after DVF first reported a profitable quarter, former CEO Gabby Hirata, who stepped down in June, said that DVF is “making less money now but more premium dollars.” Reported profit margins at the time were 10%.
