MILAN — Antonio Marras has named Barbara Calò chief executive officer of the brand.
This is a new role and is part of the structural reorganization and strategic development of Antonio Marras that Sandro Veronesi, chairman of parent company Oniverse, has been mapping out.
“Barbara Calò is a strategic addition to the Antonio Marras board and I am convinced that her experience and talent will be an added value for the brand,” Veronesi said. “With her important background in fashion, Barbara will help us in the ongoing expansion of Antonio Marras, especially at the international level. With her, we will continue with the retail plan, which — since the acquisition in 2022 — has been one of our main goals.”
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Indeed, Calò has extensive experience in retailing. She joins Antonio Marras from Marni, where she held the same position. She had entered Marni’s parent company OTB at the beginning of 2016 as global omnichannel director, was then named general manager in November 2019 and promoted in December of the following year to the role of CEO. As reported in May, Calò was succeeded at Marni by Stefano Rosso and stayed on to support the executive through a transition period.
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Before Marni, in the 2012 to 2016 period, Calò was retail director at Giorgio Armani and Armani Collezioni. She built her career at brands ranging from Vertu and Escada to Jil Sander and Prada.
In 2022, Veronesi decided to take an 80 percent stake in Marras’ namesake company, providing his group’s retail and production experience, in addition to its financial muscle, to develop the brand, which was previously mainly distributed via wholesale.
The Rome boutique was the first to open last year on luxury street Via Condotti after the acquisition by Calzedonia Group, which changed its name to Oniverse in December.
In July, Marras told WWD that he continues to aim at including artistic and cultural events in the stores and enthused about the “radical change” and acquired visibility for the brand he founded almost three decades ago, crediting Veronesi for his support. This has allowed the designer to restructure and expand his Alghero store in Sardinia, and also open six stores in a year-and-a-half in the best streets in cities ranging from Turin and Florence to Venice and the luxury beach resort town Forte dei Marmi.
Marras’ collections are all sewn by hand in Sardinia, with embroideries and details comparable to haute couture.
For this reason, Marras once again touted Veronesi’s understanding, as he has been allowing him to maintain his MO, his own pace and artisanal craftsmanship.
Based in Verona, where the company was founded in 1986 by Veronesi, Oniverse in addition to Antonio Marras now comprises innerwear, hosiery and beachwear brands Calzedonia, Intimissimi, Intimissimi Uomo and Tezenis; knitwear and cashmere label Falconeri; wine retailer Signorvino, and bridal brand Atelier Emé, as well as yachting firm Cantiere del Pardo, the producer of the Grand Soleil, Pardo and Van Dutch yachts.. The group last year reported sales of 3.1 billion euros. In 2023, exports increased to account for around 62 percent of the total.