MILAN — More changes are afoot for another brand in the New Guards Group stable.
County of Milan, the brand founded in 2012 by Marcelo Burlon, is changing licensing hands, cutting ties with Farfetch.
Fully owned by the namesake designer, who exited the creative director’s role in April 2024, the brand has signed a global design, manufacturing and distribution license with Italian fashion company Daddato Next.
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The license was previously held by Farfetch, which in 2019 acquired New Guards Group, the brand platform that is home to Marcelo Burlon County of Milan, in addition to Off-White, Palm Angels, Ben Taverniti, Unravel Project, Heron Preston, Alanui and Kirin Peggy Gou.
Similarly to Off-White, the County of Milan brand was not owned by, but only licensed to, New Guards Group.
Helmed by Dario Daddato, Matteo Battaglia and Giacomo Ragazzi, Daddato Next, originally a kidswear specialist, has most recently scaled up its scope, adding adult apparel brands including Barrow, Laneus and A Paper Kid to its roster.
“We have always been fascinated by the brand and what Marcelo has created. He’s been a pioneer,” said Dario Daddato in a phone interview. “Looking at the market, we believe we are in the right shape to reposition the brand in the contemporary market segment.”
The first collection under the licensing agreement is to bow for fall 2025. There are no plans for Burlon to rejoin the brand in any creative or business leading capacity, for the time being.
The development comes after Bluestar Alliance acquired Off-White and Palm Angels and follows the announcements that Alanui’s cofounders, siblings Carlotta and Nicolò Oddi, had bought back the stake held by New Guards Group in the high-end knitwear brand they launched in 2015.
Last April, Ambush’s founders Yoon Ahn and Verbal reacquired full ownership of the company, which joined New Guards Group’s roster in 2020.
Burlon — a nightlife PR, DJ, stylist and designer — jump-started the brand as a T-shirt project, which rapidly evolved into a full-fledged fashion label, with nods to crafts and Burlon’s Argentinean roots (the designer was born in the Patagonia region, specifically in El Bolsón), which he reinterpreted through a techno-folk lens. In 2014 he was Pitti Uomo’s guest designer, cementing his reputation within the fashion system and the men’s arena.
A division of Farfetch, NGG is still home to brands including Unravel Project, Heron Preston and Kirin Peggy Gou.
Farfetch acquired NGG for $675 million in 2019. South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang took control of Farfetch at a knockdown price of $500 million at the end of 2023.