Italian luxury menswear group Ermenegildo Zegna has seen an improvement in its Middle East business in recent weeks following disruption linked to the Iran conflict, with Executive Chairman Gildo Zegna expressing confidence that the recovery will be complete after the summer, Reuters reported.
Speaking at a Financial Times luxury summit in Milan, Gildo Zegna said the impact on the company’s Middle East sales had been “substantial”, though “less brutal” than expected.
Zegna, whose largest global store is located inside the Dubai Mall, witnessed a drop in sales during March and the first half of April amid weaker consumer traffic in the region. Reuters had earlier reported that footfall at the Dubai Mall in March fell 50 percent compared to the same period last year.
“It’s picking up. Surely traffic is not where it used to be, but … we see a gradual improvement, and hopefully by post summer time we’ll be okay, so less brutal than we thought,” Zegna said, according to Reuters.
The company underwent a leadership transition earlier this year when Gildo Zegna stepped down as CEO to become chairman, handing over leadership of the Zegna brand to his two children as co-CEOs, while former chief operating and financial officer Gianluca Tagliabue was elevated to group CEO.
Reflecting on the transition, Zegna said it had “gone well so far”, adding that he would only relinquish his role “when I’m buried.”
Zegna, Reuters reported, ruled out acquisitions or an expansion of the Zegna brand into womenswear.
On global markets, Zegna said business in the United States remained stable after two years of double-digit growth, while Europe was “doing pretty well” and China was “slowly coming back.”
“China will not be as we used to remember. However, I think that it is at a good state for business. Let’s be happy with what we have, and let’s nurture what we have,” he said, quoted by Reuters.
