Zegna veteran Raul Verdicchi has been named the new chief executive officer of the British fashion label Sunspel.
Nicholas Brooke, company owner and CEO of Sunspel since 2005, will remain executive chairman.
A Bocconi University alum, prior to Sunspel, Verdicchi served as chief commercial officer at AlphaTauri. Before that, he spent more than 12 years working at the Zegna Group, moving from chief financial officer of Spain and Portugal to CFO of Japan, Korea and Mongolia, to general manager of South Korea to eventually regional director of Western Europe until his departure in 2021.
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Before officially entering the luxury sector, Verdicchi worked in audit and strategy consulting for Deloitte and Accenture, respectively, where he specialized in the luxury and fashion sectors.
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With regard to his new role, Verdicchi said he is excited to join a brand that comes with “a unique story of British craftmanship dating back to 1860, that has demonstrated a pioneering and brave spirit throughout its long life.”
“The fact that Sunspel is associated with some of menswear’s most iconic styles such as the T-shirt, polo shirt, and boxer shorts and continues to be based in the factory that it has occupied since 1937, makes it very special,” he added.
Verdicchi acknowledged that the brand “has undergone intelligent and consistent growth in recent years” to become an international, multichannel, luxury casualwear brand, with ambitious plans for significant future growth.
“I look forward enormously to telling this brand’s beautiful story and to accelerating its expansion worldwide,” he added.
Brooke, who acquired Sunspel with Dominic Hazlehurst in 2005 from the descendent of brand founder Thomas Hill, said Verdicchi’s extensive experience in the luxury and fashion industry particularly in international business development combined with his appreciation for product quality and understanding of brands makes him “ideally suited to drive the next phase of Sunspel’s growth.”
According to Companies House filings, the brand logged a net turnover of 18.4 million pounds in the fiscal year that ended on Jan. 31, 2022, representing a 20.2 percent increase year-over-year. Gross profit in the period increased by 21.4 percent to 11.9 million pounds compared to a year prior.
Last year, the brand released a capsule collection inspired by men’s clothing with Edie Campbell. The British model said Jarvis Cocker, Harry Wormwood (Danny DeVito’s character in “Matilda”), and David Bowie were the muses she looked to when designing the pieces.