MILAN — Ready has by no means been Lucio Di Rosa’s forte.
The movie star trend matchmaker determined to go solo in 2023 after twenty years of working at Italian trend homes. In that point he has launched his strategic branding company LDR22 in Los Angeles, and adopted up that profitable debut by slicing the ribbon of an outpost housed in Milan’s storied Palazzo Meli Lupi di Soragna simply 5 months later. Now he’s increasing his boutique showroom idea to New York, opening a 2,152-square-foot unit at 525 Seventh Avenue.
In between, he helped pair manufacturers with celebrities and VIPs, with labels he represented popping up on the likes of Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Sharon Stone, Sydney Sweeney, Jenna Ortega and Shakira, in addition to Adrien Brody, Matt Bomer and Theo James, to call a couple of.
Providers expanded, too, now together with worldwide press workplace company consultancy and editorial capabilities; occasion planning; market evaluation; model identification growth; expertise scouting; content material and marketing campaign manufacturing in addition to movie star and influencer activations. The consumer listing for movie star placements in L.A. contains the likes of Tod’s, Antonio Marras, Gianvito Rossi and Georges Hobeika, whereas manufacturers akin to Gabriele Colangelo, Forte_Forte, Autry and Patrizia Pepe are among the many ones leveraging LDR22’s at-large companies and presence each within the U.S. and Italy.
Inside LDR22’s new showroom in New York.
Courtesy of LDR22
“One of many folks in my crew in L.A. at all times tells me to relax,” Di Rosa instructed WWD, tuning in on Zoom at dawn from New York, already busy overseeing the ultimate touches to the brand new showroom, from establishing huge mirrors to fixing carpet snafus.
He pointed to his firm’s improved, present construction as the actual enabler of the New York opening, whose origins hint again to 6 months in the past.
“It was an concept recurrently knocking at my door, however I used to be pushing it away,” stated Di Rosa about LDR22’s third outpost. “We began [this business] so quickly and purchasers are demanding increasingly more from us. It’s a continuing question of requests, particularly for what issues the U.S.”
Inside LDR22’s new showroom in New York.
Courtesy of LDR22
If providing a full service to a handful of his present purchasers was nonetheless manageable, when the likes of Kiton and types below the Oniverse group akin to Calzedonia, Intimissimi and Falconeri reached out to Di Rosa to implement actions within the U.S., he began to understand there was a niche out there.
“There are manufacturers preferring to have only one vendor — a single firm dealing with all the pieces throughout nations… so opening in New York was key and strategic in that sense. It’s about closing the circle,” stated Di Rosa, underscoring he has “no intention so as to add different cities like Paris, London or Dubai subsequent.”
He claimed his firm’s agility, velocity and rigor in execution are among the many belongings that set it aside, however his affable method, relationships with celebrities and community of contacts definitely play a job, too.
Inside LDR22’s new showroom in New York.
Courtesy of LDR22
All these expertise appear to have been solid by a lady Di Rosa repeatedly talked about all through the dialog: Donatella Versace.
“I will likely be eternally grateful to her, as a result of she trusted me since Day One,” he stated about his 14 years spent working at Versace, primarily as the top of celebrities, VIPs and high fashion purchasers worldwide relations. Di Rosa joined Versace after a stint at Giorgio Armani from 2002 to 2005 and stayed till 2019, earlier than shifting to Dolce & Gabbana as its head of worldwide celebrities and VIP relations.
He recalled how he handed Versace’s first check by hearth, as he dressed Hilary Swank, Jessica Alba, Uma Thurman and Salma Hayek, amongst others, in Versace at his first Oscars ceremony. To at the present time, he underscored he has by no means paid an actor and commits to natural product placements solely.
“Her imprinting will at all times stick with me; I apply it to many conditions and points of my enterprise,” stated Di Rosa of Donatella. “She wished issues accomplished for yesterday, in order that’s the place the velocity of execution comes from, for one.”
Inside LDR22’s new showroom in New York.
Courtesy of LDR22
He helped the model in different methods as nicely. For instance, when tasked with boosting the Atelier Versace enterprise in 2016, he understood the important thing lay in perfecting the client expertise.
“These high-spending purchasers from the Center East, for instance, weren’t handled as they anticipated,” recalled Di Rosa. A revamp of the showroom in Versace’s landmark By way of Gesù headquarters included Di Rosa taking the designer’s personal white couch from her residence and bringing it to the house. Utilizing the model’s residence classes like glasses and cups to serve Champagne or espresso to purchasers and general tweaks to the promoting course of to make it extra hospitable helped.
“They began not solely to purchase the garments — which normally they didn’t even see however bought by way of sketches — but in addition the plates or porcelain units for weddings,” stated Di Rosa.
These learnings caught with him, as he arrange the LDR22 areas with the identical method. Every outpost is conceived with a luxurious hospitality expertise in thoughts and as an extension of Di Rosa’s own residence, with design items and loads of residence objects punctuating the areas. These are led by way of Fornasetti components — from the Nuvole wallpaper to cushions, vases, trays and cups — and Dr. Vranjes’ “Rosso Nobile” perfume.
Inside LDR22’s new showroom in New York.
Courtesy of LDR22
Every location displays the spirit of town. Whereas the L.A. one is conceived as a 4,000-square-foot villa furnished with items from Minotti, Flos and Artemide and replete with a swimming pool and backyard, the Milan unit has a frescoed ceiling, wooden flooring and personal courtyards, and the New York house has an easy, city method.
“The thought is to supply an expertise that’s totally different from the company world, and make this enterprise extra pleasurable. An individual stepping within the showroom ought to by no means really feel like they’re in an workplace,” stated Di Rosa.
“Most showrooms don’t work like this,” he continued, pointing to board rooms he finds “horrible” and show of racks full of garments as examples. Di Rosa prefers to maintain a curated number of samples, as a substitute reserving separate areas for the complete storage of merchandise and shipments actions.
“I attempt to cowl each product class. We have been lacking menswear for a very long time, however now we’ve Kiton, which has a lot untapped potential,” stated Di Rosa. Ditto for Falconeri, which he’s having fun with to reboot and elevate in notion, additionally because of placements on the likes of Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Glen Powell, in addition to the newest marketing campaign he labored on for the cashmere model and that noticed real-life couple Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Jason Statham fronting the photographs.
Different tasks he’s pleased with vary from the placements for Tod’s, which was his solo enterprise’s first consumer; the rebranding of Emé and its pivoting from pure bridal participant to event put on, and the retooling of Patrizia Pepe, seen because of Di Rosa on the likes of Jessica Alba, Zoe Saldaña, Elizabeth Olsen and Joey King.
Whereas he acknowledged that influencers nonetheless resonate for some classes akin to mass market merchandise, Di Rosa believes luxurious manufacturers are shifting their focus again to celebrities, “who will at all times have their very own validation, excessive positioning and stellar engagement.”
Nonetheless, he acknowledged the stagnating momentum trend is experiencing. Therefore, he’s seeking to broaden his portfolio to different industries, together with interiors, in addition to meals and beverage and hospitality. He already has secured Campari for a challenge throughout the Cannes Movie Competition, teased Di Rosa.
Inside LDR22’s new showroom in New York.
Courtesy of LDR22
In the meantime, he intends to maintain his enterprise self-financed, though he revealed he has been approached by potential traders within the U.S. “However at this stage I’m not . Should you open the doorways to traders, there’s the danger that the magic of getting a curation of purchasers or solely few clothes hanging from the racks would possibly finish,” stated Di Rosa, cherishing the liberty and lack of stress going solo permit him.
“We’re nonetheless in a rising trajectory and I need to take pleasure in it. Even when there are challenges and missteps, it’s all a part of the training curve — and I’m nonetheless studying lots,” he concluded.
