‘The era of desire is over’: CEO Silvio Campara on making Golden Goose stand out in a slow market

The Italian footwear company just announced 12 per cent growth in the first nine months of 2024. Here, the group’s CEO explains the vision behind its success.
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Photo: Max & Douglas

On Wednesday, Italian luxury footwear and apparel company Golden Goose Group, best known for its star motif and sneakers that look as though they were just walked out of a mosh pit, announced 12 per cent growth in the first nine months of 2024, compared to the same period last year, with net revenues of €466 million. That’s no small feat considering the wider industry slowdown.

What is more interesting, however, is that the company is also reporting 18 per cent growth in its direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenues, which now account for 74 per cent of all net revenues (compared to 71 per cent in the first nine months of 2023). At a time when fashion brands are scrambling to wean themselves off their wholesale dependencies following the collapse of Matches and wider online retail struggles, these guys seem to be getting things right. I spoke to CEO Silvio Campara about how they got there.

Vogue: Congratulations on your earnings results. Your press release cites “robust growth amid a volatile market landscape”. How do you explain that volatile landscape?

The problem is not the market. It’s the product. It’s always the same. Everything is so boring. That’s why people are not consuming. If Golden Goose is growing, it’s not because we are geniuses. It’s simply because we have the humbleness and the ability to understand that the customer is the priority. The world belongs to them. They don’t just want to buy a product. They want to make their own product. We are the only place where you can make your own sneakers. The era of desire is over — we’re in the era of experience.

HAUS cobblers, Maghera.

Photo: Courtesy of Golden Goose

Vogue: Is that the future of shopping?

Shopping will disappear. It’s old. It’s over. Nobody wants to shop. You can shop if you want to, online. But when you go outside you want to have an experience. This is what you do when you go to a restaurant. This is what you do when you go for a beautiful weekend in Tulum. This is what you do, when you want to enjoy life. Social media flattened the emotional connections among people and so we are looking for them. Any brand that is not resonating with this will fail.

Vogue: Is it just that we are seeking experiences, or are we also feeling bad about shopping because it comes with negative connotations, like those of waste and greed?

No, I think we are actually seeking good experiences. You want to go where you feel good, not only where you look good. It’s the sense of belonging that makes the difference. I truly believe in that because that’s how I behave. And that’s also why so many new brands will be born over the next few years, because all the big brands are boring. They keep saying the same thing. They continue to change designers, to change CEOs. But it’s not about those players — it’s about the customer. All they have to do is decide how they want to speak to them. It’s very simple: you need to get out of your desk and go to the street.

HAUS, Maghera, Venice, Italy.

Photo: Courtesy of Golden Goose

Vogue: So it might be the CEOs? If it’s a matter of strategy…

No, designers can fall into the same trap too. Everybody thinks too much. They don’t have to think. They have to feel. That was the reason why Alexander McQueen was Alexander McQueen — he was connected to the people. That’s why Armani was Armani back in the ’70s. It’s the disconnection from the customer that makes brands irrelevant. It can’t all be a strategy.

Vogue: You talk a lot about empathy and kindness. Is that how you make decisions as a CEO? As an editor, I always think, “do I want to read this?” Do you also put yourself in the customer’s shoes?

Now I’ll make you laugh; my team, instead of chief executive officer, call me ‘chief emotional officer’. So it’s exactly as you said. My priority is people — our employees as well. Because as soon as your employees feel engaged sentimentally, then by osmosis, this will be also reflected to the market.

HAUS cobblers, Maghera.

Photo: Courtesy of Golden Goose

Vogue: Speaking of the market, you withdrew from going for an IPO back in June. Why?

It’s very simple: our company was growing. The market was deteriorating. As you can imagine, after 23, 24 years, you want your baby to land in the best market possible. That was not the best market possible.

If there were any concerns that we would fail to deliver, we are demonstrating that we absolutely were able to deliver, overdeliver in fact. And if you ask me, when we are going to try again, that doesn’t depend on the company because I remain very confident in our ability to serve the market. It will depend on the market. It could be 2025, 2026 — I don’t care. We didn’t want to go public, just to make money; it was really to help the story as it is getting bigger. We want to open ourselves to an audience made of incredible investors that can really help the story of Golden Goose become the story of many. It’s about amplifying our brand values.

Golden Goose Forty2 campaign.

Photo: Courtesy of Golden Goose

Vogue: You’re opening a store in New York’s Meatpacking District later this month. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

We are super happy. When I joined Golden Goose in 2013, the company was making $20 million in revenues, had 17 employees and no stores. We’re going to close the year with 220 stores in more than 62 countries. The ambition moving forward is to be opening 25 stores a year.

I am really proud of the fact that in Golden Goose stores, customers can become involved with the most sensitive and important part for a fashion brand, which is creativity. By designing their own sneakers, people can really express themselves in our stores. And our new store in the Meatpacking District, in front of the Whitney Museum, will be a celebration of that because it will offer our customer the chance to sign up for masterclasses with our artisans — it’s not about ordering bespoke or just repairing any more. They are willing to spend their days inside our stores.

If you can help people be creative, they are going to be loyal to you forever. Seventy per cent of our customers are repeat customers, even with the €500 price tag — and that’s because they are not buying sneakers, they are coming to make their own.

HAUS Mexico interior.

Photo: Courtesy of Golden Goose

Vogue: What’s the most extravagant or your favourite pair of bespoke sneakers that you’ve sold?

The customer was based in Florida, in Boca Raton. I can’t give you details, but the pair featured an excerpt on love from Dante’s Divine Comedy.

Vogue: Interesting. What are your priorities for the year ahead?

People. People. People. Culture. Culture. Culture. Emotions. Emotions. Emotions. Which is all encapsulated in our investment in Haus. We opened our Haus space in Venice in April 2024, which is more than 10,000 metres squared and we invested over €12 million in it. It’s not a museum, it’s not a factory and it’s not an academy — it’s a little bit of all these things. It’s where we teach people how to make the product, and where we nurture our community and promote our values.

These days it’s not enough to just open stores — you need to open places where people can meet and recharge because culture isn’t static. And the customer is also in continuous evolution so you need a place where you can connect with them and celebrate that.

Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.

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