Francesco Murano, My Style Bags and Acbc were among the winners of the ninth edition of the Young Businesses awards by Italian luxury industry association Altagamma.
The 2025 edition’s winners
Two emerging labels were recognised in the Fashion category. The first was Francesco Murano, founded in 2020 by the eponymous designer, an award winner with CNMI, Altaroma and LVMH. Francesco Murano has been a regular at Milan Fashion Week since February. The second was My Style Bags, a brand founded in 2008 in Milan by Giuseppe Bellora, Lorenza Bellora and Stefano Donadel Campbell, specialised in travel bags and accessories made with fine fabrics.
The award for the Innovation category went to green solutions specialist Acbc, founded in 2017 and now a partner of over 150 international names, including Corneliani, Gucci Watch, Kering Eyewear, Max Mara, Missoni and Versace. Acbc helps them develop green strategies and design sustainable products and environmentally friendly collections.
The other prize-winners were Slalom for object design, Pola Grande Gioielli for jewellery, Portrait Milano for the hotel business, Lávika for wellness and beauty, Ice Yachts for the nautical design and automotive category, and Molino Pasini for food.
The awards, introduced by Altagamma in 2015 in collaboration with Borsa Italiana, Elite-Gruppo Euronext and SDA Bocconi, recognise emerging brands within Italy’s luxury sectors. The winning companies join Altagamma for a year, and will be able to take part in exclusive training and networking sessions, focusing on business strategy and consultancy.
“In the last nine years, Altagamma has created and pursued with dedication this project set up with Franca Sozzani, aimed at spotlighting the stars of the future, the emerging companies that will be the new protagonists of Italian luxury,” said Stefania Lazzaroni, managing director of Altagamma. “These brands have all it takes to become paradigms of Italian excellence in seven different sectors. Since 2015, 64 companies have been recognised by the awards. Many have become established, some have joined Altagamma, and they have all been part of our community for some time,” concluded Lazzaroni.
Swiss watch exports fell for a fourth month as companies waited for the US agreement to ease punitive import tariffs to take effect.
A watch by Tag Heuer – DMR/Tag Heuer
Exports dropped 7.3% in November from a year earlier, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said Thursday, the most since August when President Donald Trump’s administration slapped a 39% levy on Switzerland’s products. Exports to the US, the industry’s biggest market, fell 52% last month.
Manufacturers of watches, machines, and precision instruments were among sectors hit hardest by the US trade tariffs on Switzerland, according to the country’s central bank. A deal to reduce the levy to 15% finally came on November 14, but companies only found out in December that the lower tariffs would be backdated to the day the agreement was announced.
Watch exports are likely to pick up in the coming months as the tariff deal reassures companies, Citigroup analyst Thomas Chauvet said in a note.
Still, Switzerland’s overall exports to the US rose in November, underscoring the challenging backdrop facing the watch sector. The 15% import levy is still higher than the 2% faced by companies before Trump’s trade measures.
Shares of both Richemont and Swatch Group AG slipped in early Zurich trading. Overall, exports were down in almost all price bands, and in every material, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said.
Exports to Japan dropped, while the picture also turned negative in China after two months of growth. That’s dampening hopes for a recovery in luxury demand in the country, especially given its recent slow retail sales growth.
“The luxury watch sector enters 2026 with mixed fundamentals,” Vontobel analyst Jean-Philippe Bertschy said in a note. Asia comparisons will ease, he said, “but the US remains unpredictable, and discretionary spending in Europe is showing fatigue.”
Intimates and swim specialist Bravissimo Limited has filed its accounts for the period to the end of March and they showed much higher sales. However, it’s hard to get a clear picture of just how the company is faring.
Bravissimo
The UK-based company is part of Bravissimo Group Limited, which acts as its holding entity, as well as being the holding company for the US arm of the business.
That parent company was wholly acquired by Wacoal Europe Ltd partway through the period in late September last year. But the firm’s year-end date was changed to 31 March from 31 October at that point, which means the current period is 17 months against 12 months the ‘year’ before.
But with that in mind, its’s still worth looking at the figures for the UK operation.
For the 17 months reported, the company’s revenue was £79.3 million. For the comparison period (the 12 months to the end of October 2023) it was £57.6 million. Gross profit in the latest period was £49 million compared to £36.2 million for the shorter period previously. The gross profit margin for the most recent extra long ‘year’ was 61.8% compared to 6.2% in the previous year. That’s because the elongated period included two autumn seasons and autumn and winter sales typically have lower margins due to fewer swimwear pieces being shifted (swimwear has higher margins).
But the company said that despite the challenging inflationary environment cost were well controlled and the reported operating profit for the 17 months was £1.4 million. Had the firm being reporting its financial year as it did previously, that figure would have been £2.6 million, up from £2.5 million the year before.
Bravissimo also said that it had more active customers at the end of the latest period compared to the previous year and its website traffic was up as well, although retail store footfall dropped slightly. The website conversion rate edged upwards and the retail conversion rate was broadly stable.
In the previous year, the company said it had fully recovered from the effects of the pandemic, but it’s likely that the current year will feature worse results than those just filed.
In June 2025, the company said a warehouse fire meant disruption and delays to supply chains for its online customers. The fire was quickly extinguished, but the disruptions involving having to find temporary storage facilities. The brand stopped accepting orders online or over the phone until the issue was resolved.
It only reported being back online in late September but at least it said the business saw a 70% year-on-year rise in total sales on the day of its relaunch. Lingerie sales alone were up 90% compared to the same day last year.
Pepco’s preliminary results for FY25 showed the European value retail giant turning in a “strong financial performance” as it said “significant strategic execution delivers [a] transformational year”.
Pepco
The results, for the 12 months to the end of September, showed revenue rising 8.7% to €4.5 billion. Like for like (LFL) revenue growth was 2.6% after a 3% fall in the previous year. The gross profit margin rose to 48% from 47% and underlying EBITDA on an IFRS 16 basis was up 10.3% at €865 million. On a pre-IFRS 16 basis it was up 10.6% at €531 million. Underlying profit after tax rose 19.7% to €219 million.
All that came as the sale of Poundland was successfully completed in June 2025, “significantly simplifying the group structure”.
Pepco’s FMCG exit was also completed including the conversion of most Pepco plus stores in Iberia, “generating encouraging results”.
The company also saw an improved performance in Poland and Western Europe in general and the acceleration of its digital journey with a new website, app and loyalty scheme ready for launch in Q1 FY26.
It also said that the Dealz chain is now fully independent and the divestment process is intended to start next year as it explores strategic options for the business.
The big event during the year was the aforementioned sale of Poundland, the UK operation that had been a drain on the wider business in recent periods. With that now divested, it’s clear that the company is able to move forward and it confirmed that FY26 underlying EBITDA is expected to grow at least 9%.
That view is boosted by current trading. In the first financial quarter-to-date (1 October to 13 December 2025), Pepco LFL revenues have risen 3.9% excluding FMCG (LFL of +0.3% including FMCG).
It saw a solid start to the quarter in October but this was partially offset by a weaker November in line with the broader market, before returning to growth in December.
Dealz, as mentioned, is next to be divested but for now it’s dragging down the overall company performance, Pepco saying that this reflects “challenging trading conditions across all categories, particularly in health and beauty”.
Commenting on the results overall, CEO Stephan Borchert said: “2025 was a real turning point… the group has executed at exceptional pace, delivering significant progress in a short timeframe. The decision to refocus on Pepco and exclusively on our core categories of clothing and general merchandise has been validated by these strong results, in particular our gross margin and free cash performance, which were both ahead of expectations.
“We opened 247 net new stores with strengthened store economics and returns on capital for Pepco across our geographies, as we progressed our disciplined opening plans in both Western Europe, and Central and Eastern Europe. The performance of Western Europe has become a clear growth engine, exceeding our initial expectations. It is clear this region is now prepared for future accelerated growth.
“The development of our digital capabilities is progressing as per plan, and we are on track for launch during calendar Q1 2026.”
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