Rizzo and Messina founded Sunnei as a DTC menswear business, sold online and in a small store-cum-headquarters in Via Vela, close to Milan’s iconic Bar Basso. As the wholesale business began to scale, the brand shifted its headquarters out of the store space. Via Vela shuttered last autumn to prepare for the new store. After years of healthy growth, in 2020, Sunnei was acquired by Vanguards Group (which also owns Nanushka and Aeron) for a €6 million majority stake investment.
“Since we’re not independent anymore, we sometimes need to make decisions that are safe,” says Rizzo. “But we also feel sometimes the best way to have a sustainable business is by taking some risks and changing models that are very obsolete.” One of these models is wholesale: even in the current challenging climate, as wholesale struggles, Sunnei is seeing growth in its DTC channels, particularly via collaborations with brands like Camper, which was released in February and is selling very well. “Our business is flat now, which is good, because DTC is covering wholesale losses,” Messina adds.
Focusing on its roots
Sunnei tested pop-ups in key cities like Milan and Paris over the last couple of years. And while they were largely successful, nothing replicated the energy of Sunnei’s Milan HQ and its employees, which sparked the idea to bring consumers in and open the store there (like the first store on Via Vela with an office in the back). “We want customers to feel the energy around the brand and the company and the people that work here,” Messina says. “Even our suppliers visit HQ often, so customers can meet them. The intention is to bring together everyone related to the brand.”
“If you come to the store and want to know more about the bag, we’ll call the bag designer, who can come downstairs and explain how it’s made,” Rizzo adds. “Our focus will be a lot on our — I don’t like the words but — VICs or community.”
Sunnei has never felt like a Milanese brand to the founders, but they feel they have a place in the city, nonetheless, for those who also don’t feel aligned with traditional Milan fashion. “We are not [Milanese] glamour, and we’re not part of a fashion family here,” Rizzo says. “We are outsiders, but we always choose Milano as our city because we want to connect people here that are similar to us.”
