Through the end of 2023, Aeffe remains in the negative. The Italian design conglomerate lost 32.1 million euros in 2023, up from 9 million euros the previous year, after a massive reorganization of its main brand Moschino. With currency rates held unchanged, sales dropped by 9.4 percent to €318.6 million.

The company’s holdings include Alberta Ferretti, Lorenzo Serafini’s contemporary line Philisophy, and Pollini, a shoemaker. In 2023, the company recorded an operating loss of 27.1 million euros, down from 1.2 million the previous year. Additionally, the gross operating profit (Ebitda) dropped significantly from 35.6 million euros in 2022 to 5.8 million the following year.

“In 2023, the contraction in margins is due both to the decline in sales and to the new strategic direction of the Moschino brand with costs related to the change in distribution model in China (from 100% wholesale to retail marketing) and the start of the repositioning plan for the various Moschino collections,” according to a statement from the company.

“2023 has been a year of transition for our group, which has seen a radical reorganisation of the Moschino brand, both creatively and in terms of distribution, and at the same time a transformation of its internal structure through a series of mergers and incorporations of companies,” says Massimo Ferretti, the executive chairman of Aeffe.

The year 2023 has been particularly challenging for the business and Moschino specifically. With constant currency rates, the label’s sales dropped from €273.3 million in 2022 to €240.8 million the following year, a decline of 11.3%. This division is responsible for 76% of the company’s overall income. Just as the company was celebrating its forty-first anniversary, Jeremy Scott, who had been creative director for 10 years, departed at the beginning of the year. November saw the passing of his successor, Davide Renne. The Argentine designer Adrian Appiolaza took his post at the beginning of January. The Aeffe Retail subsidiary and the Moschino subsidiary were both fully incorporated by Aeffe at the same time.

The uncertain political and economic situation also had an impact on the business. The Italian market, which accounts for 42% of Aeffe’s overall sales, witnessed a 7.3% decline to €134 million in sales. Sales in the US plummeted 20% to 19.3 million, while in Europe, which contributes 31% to overall revenues, they decreased 16.3% to 98.6 million. Sales increased 4.9% to €66.7 million, with the exception of Asia.

“The results we are presenting today, which were expected but not positive, are clearly the fruit of these transformations and of the heavy investments made in recent years, which will have positive effects from 2024 onwards,” Massimo Ferretti says.