Agnona Has a New Owner

MILAN — The Agnona brand is changing hands, WWD has learned.

However, the transaction ensures continuity for the women’s fashion brand. The Ermenegildo Zegna board has approved the sale of the majority of Agnona Srl to the Aimone family, another branch of the Zegna family. Agnona was founded in 1953 and has been controlled by the Zegnas since 1999.

The agreement will allow Roberto Aimone and his son, Stefano, to acquire 70 percent of the company while Ermenegildo Zegna Holditalia will keep the remaining 30 percent.

Roberto and Stefano will soon on take the roles of executive president and artistic director, respectively. This is a return to the brand for Roberto Aimone, who was chief executive officer of Agnona years ago. He is married to Laura Zegna, sister of Paolo Zegna, chairman of the Italian men’s wear powerhouse.

Creative director Simon Holloway will leave the company. His first collection for Agnona bowed for fall 2016, succeeding Stefano Pilati. Holloway developed the Agnona collections by leveraging the brand’s tradition of luxurious fabrics and refined elegance.

For fall 2020, Holloway looked to Nineties style icon Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy for inspiration for his luxe lineup of minimalist tailoring for women and — for the first time in 20 years — showed men’s alongside it.

Backstage, he called the return “long overdue” for the house. “In the cashmere world, there is a space for something more contemporary and modern, but still with a timeless nobility in terms of silhouettes and yarns and fabrics,” he said at the time.

The British designer had joined the company from Hogan after a two-year agreement. Before Hogan, Holloway worked for Jimmy Choo, Narciso Rodriguez, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors and Richard Tyler.

Current Agnona ceo Alessandra Carra, who joined six years ago, will support the Aimones in the transition until Stefano Aimone assumes the role. Carra hailed from Emilio Pucci and prior to that, she was ceo of Polo Ralph Lauren Italy and countries under license, a post she’d held since 2004. Previously, she was vice president of marketing, sales and distribution worldwide at Valentino and held positions at Levi Strauss Group and Trussardi.

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