Nina Jobst
Research expert covering South Korea
Italian luxury fashion companies - statistics & facts
Italian companies which design and produce luxury goods are leaders on a global scale. In 2020, the market for personal luxury goods in Italy was worth 10 billion euros. Among the most famous Italian luxury companies, those generating the highest sales value are Prada, Giorgio Armani, Max Mara, Moncler, Dolce & Gabbana and Salvatore Ferragamo. The luxury eyewear company Luxottica had always headed the rankings. However, EssilorLuxottica was founded from the incorporation of Luxottica by the French company Essilor. The leading eyewear group is now listed in Paris and belongs to the largest companies traded on the Eurozone stock exchange.
Milanese brands: Prada and Armani
Prada is among the most valuable Italian brands worldwide, together with the likes of Gucci, Ferrari, and Nutella. Prada's best performing products are leather goods. Over half of all sales in the most recently reported period were generated by these products. The Armani Group is another Italian luxury company that is not owned by the luxury industry's big conglomerates. Founded in the 1970s by Giorgio Armani, the company is a worldwide leader in leather goods, shoes, jewelry, accessories, cosmetics, and home interiors. That said, in recent years the company saw a decline in sales, falling below the two billion euros bar in 2020. Nowadays, Giorgio Armani is the sixth richest man in Italy, surpassing Miuccia Prada, the head designer of the Prada brand and the founder of Miu Miu.Florentine luxury: Salvatore Ferragamo
A further globally famous Italian luxury brand is Salvatore Ferragamo. Founded in 1928 in Florence, Salvatore Ferragamo has become one of the leading luxury brands representative of Italian fashion in the world. The company's main sources of revenues are shoes and leather goods. These two products generated sales of almost a billion euros in 2021. The presence of Salvatore Ferragamo's mono-brand stores is highest in the Asia Pacific region, which is also where the highest revenue share comes from. The Italian leather fashion industry is generally a leading business in Italy, however it is not only limited to large companies. Italian manufacture of leather and leather goods is worth almost 30 billion euros annually. This high value is generated by the tanning and manufacture of leather and fur, travel items, bags, saddlery, and footwear. In fact, Italy is the leading exporter of leather in the world in terms of value.
