Molteni Group CEO Sees Nautical Enlargement, Progress Alternatives

MILAN — Molteni&C has simply furnished non-public residences on two vessels for Explora Journeys, the posh life-style model of delivery and cruise ship firm MSC Group. Anticipated to be unveiled by the tip of the yr are the Ocean Penthouses, Ocean Residences and Proprietor’s Residence on board of Explora I, the primary of as much as six luxurious ships.

Not each furnishings firm is poised to outfit ships, however Molteni&C has personalized fashions just like the Walter and Margou armchairs by Flemish architect and artistic director Vincent Van Duysen, and the Chelsea and Devon seatings, the D.552.2 and Palinfrasca chairs, designed by the late Italian designers Rodolfo Dordoni, Gio Ponti and Luca Meda, respectively, for ocean journey.

In an interview with WWD, Molteni Group chief government officer Marco Piscitelli mentioned hospitality and the nautical sector symbolize profitable areas of development for the Giussano-based firm, which was based by Angelo and Giuseppina Molteni in 1934. The agency is now being run by Piscitelli, along with the founders’ descendants.

“The world of luxurious this yr has seen a slowdown and the one sectors which have carried out positively have been exactly these of hospitality and cruises along with cosmetics,” Piscitelli mentioned.

Regardless of the continued market correction, after the post-pandemic growth, Molteni Group’s gross sales are anticipated to have risen 10 % to 520 million euros in 2024, making it one in every of Italy’s largest luxurious furnishings makers by revenues.

Molteni Group has labored with Italian shipyard Fincantieri, one of many world’s largest, for 30 years. By Fincantieri, it has labored on 6,000 passenger ships for Costa and Carnival cruises. It has additionally developed luxurious constitution holidays just like the The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Assortment and The 4 Seasons Yacht, which like Explora Journeys are in sync with its personal luxurious DNA.

The nautical sector is on the rise, regardless of the financial slowdown. Its gross sales have been buoyed by bespoke yachts. Gross sales of the Italian yacht sector, the most important on this planet, rose 13.6 % to eight.33 billion euros in 2023, in keeping with the Yachting in Figures report produced by the Italian Marine Business Affiliation’s Market Intelligence and Analysis Division that was launched on the finish of September.

Shipbuilder Azimut|Benetti Group, which was ranked because the number-one agency on this planet in keeping with size constructed by Boat Worldwide, famous a growth in orders. In October, the Avigliana, Italy-based firm mentioned it has a strong backlog for boats which have but to be constructed, as much as 2029 for some Benetti fashions, with 40 % of its clientele hailing from Europe, adopted by the Americas at 37 % and the Center East and North Africa at a complete of 23 %.

Equally, Ameglia, Italy-based Sanlorenzo, the second-ranked builder by size, underneath artwork director Piero Lissoni since 2018, mentioned it closed the primary half of 2024 with revenues up 6.9 %. In its most up-to-date monetary report launched Sept. 9, the agency mentioned it sees sustainable development over time. Its primary geographic drivers had been related, with the Center East and North Africa area gross sales up 142 %, the Americas up 9.2 % and Asia Pacific up 20.9 %.

In 2024, Molteni Group bucked the development, anticipating to report an increase in income of 520 million euros in income up from 470 million euro in income in 2023, because it opened new shops worldwide. Molteni Group deliberate 18 openings complete for 2025, together with São Paulo; Mumbai; Mexico Metropolis; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Sydney; Auckland, New Zealand; Chengdu, China; and Bangkok. It opened two shops in Russia — one in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg — by way of a retail associate in 2024.

Molteni Group, which owns luxurious furnishings and design agency Molteni&C in addition to partitions and workplace furnishings agency Citterio and workspace options agency UniFor, mentioned it booked about 50 % of its gross sales by way of its retail channel and 50 % by way of contract, the latter being a primary driver for luxurious furnishings friends in 2024 and into 2025. “We’ve this multichannel enterprise now that has been examined for a few years of innate capability to function in a synergic manner on many markets, on many alternative channels,” Piscitelli mentioned.