In The Family
Missoni’s Michele Norsa talks about IPOs, sustainability and wading through family politics with outsider authority.
BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL man is a woman, but behind every successful family brand is someone like Michele Norsa. The 71-year-old business veteran – who led the Salvatore Ferragamo group to a successful IPO – is the vice chairman at Missoni, a private Italian brand that revolutionised knitwear with its timeless and kaleidoscopic zigzag prints. As a non-family executive who’s successfully led family businesses to greater heights, he is widely recognised for his leadership, impartiality and aversion to family politics. He talks to Robb Report about authority, public validation and sustainability marketing.
What’s it like to be a non-family leader in a family business?
Michele Norsa (MN): The key is to quickly establish governance among family members. When it comes to big multi-generational families, I try to re-establish equality by giving the impression of being absolutely above any kind of politics. You have to establish rules where everyone is on the same page and you have to do it immediately. Wait too long and you can end up getting involved. Most importantly, be impartial and never participate in any problem. That is how you gain trust and authority.
I hear there’s news about Missoni going public after 2023.
MN: That is the logical move for a private equity like us, but things are changing and we have to work harder to grow the company. We have to do everything right in the next three years. We are developing special projects like what we just did with Adidas, developing strong licences with eyewear and watches, and opening flagship stores in the US and Asia.
Why is going public a rite of passage for companies that have made it big?
MN: It tends to be for family-run companies. When you reach the third or fourth generation, the control of the business becomes difficult because you start breeding small shareholders; those who are younger want to invest somewhere else. So if you list the company, you give everyone the possibility to sell their shares. You open a market and you achieve good corporate governance. You’re disciplined from within the company and you have to be very transparent about what goes on behind.
The reason why companies often list is that they need the capital to develop the business. Now, the stock market isn’t always as fair and honest as it looks, so if you are not big enough, it wouldn’t be a good idea to go public because you’re not in a position to hit the top ranks. For example, listing Prada in Hong Kong was not a very smart move. While it was smart because the owners achieved greater volume, Prada is a small slice of the pie in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and it lost almost 30 per cent of its value.
So going public kind of validates the business.
MN: You get more visibility not just because of that fashion show you just did, but because you need to report your results for the year. Putting yourself in the stock exchange is like climbing a big mountain – you never know when the time is right or whether the weather will stay good.
How did Italy become a powerhouse in the fashion industry?
MN: Italians have always taken pride in how they look and this goes back to as far as the Renaissance period or even before. They enjoy sophisticated materials
“What’s missing now, though, is a critical mass. Italian companies, even the biggest
ones, don’t work together.”
and pay big attention to details. What’s missing now, though, is a critical mass. Italian companies, even the biggest ones, don’t work together. But Italy would need a group that’s worth at least US$5 billion or US$6 billion in order to compete with the French conglomerates in terms of digital investments, real estate and capacity. Italians are individualistic, even if they are producing the same thing a few kilometres apart from each other. Everything is a secret in the fashion world.
How is Missoni addressing the need to reduce the environmental impact on the industry?
MN: We have a lot of initiatives, like trying to recycle by-products and leftovers. But what’s important is to communicate the idea through the company and out. Everyone must have an idea, but it’s also important to have somebody responsible inside the company. At Ferragamo, I was one of the first to come up with a sustainability balance sheet and that changed things a lot. Things were more transparent and people were constantly thinking of ideas to make the company a greener place.