Analysts say strong brands are better positioned for recovery in an increasingly polarized luxury market, with weak brands suffering from cash problems and stretched competition.

In an interview on the viability of small luxury brands, former Valentino chairman Matteo Marzotto discussed the future of luxury and the rise small French houses, such as Vionnet, which Marzotto bought in 2008.

“We are living an historical change. There are many more brands, the market is saturated, much more competitive, you need ideas,” the 43-year-old businessman told Reuters.

Small brands can carve out a safe niche for themselves in an overcrowded fashion market, adding that ideas count more than money in the crisis-hit luxury industry.

Marzotto said the “crazy days” of luxury were gone. “At Valentino we sold haute couture clothes for hundreds of thousands of euros, because we were in a very exclusive niche,” he said, remembering his five years alongside designer Valentino Garavani, who also left the maison in 2008.

Image: Vionnet Paris

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