Deda Stealth, which helps power the back of house at nearly 70 percent of Italy’s luxury brands, is expanding and bringing its technical wizardry to the U.S. through the acquisition of a majority stake in artificial intelligence-pricing platform Competitoor.
Together the two companies have more than 1,000 fashion clients, including Bottega Veneta, Golden Goose, Pomellato and Wolford.
Through the deal, Deda picks up a pied-à-terre in New York, the headquarters of the nine-year-old Competitoor, that it will use to take on the U.S. market with a broader offering.
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Deda, which is owned by Dedagroup, cut its teeth building technology and AI savvy that helps brands manage their inventory—from purchasing raw materials to producing the looks to planning and allocation for distribution.
With Competitoor it picks up some AI-backed pricing and market intelligence power that can be used to keep track of pricing strategies across the market and help brands optimize their own positioning.
Luca Tonello, who is chief executive officer of Deda Stealth and will also act as president of the U.S. operation, said the company’s various services will be sold separately.
“It’s the customer that has to put the pieces together and we will help them to put the pieces together in the best way,” Tonello said.
But syncing up market intelligence with the costs to produce and hold inventory can help drive profits.
“It’s very important to use a tool that allows you to manage the financial planning of your business based on this price evaluation,” he said. “That can impact the margin.”
In general, the fashion industry is keen to get the potential benefits of AI, but is still figuring out how to unlock them.
Tonello likened it to the time years ago when computers were entering into the back office and people would double check their Excel spreadsheet with a physical calculator.
“The AI now on the planning tool, we are in the same position,” he said. “The people have to trust the data and we have to build this trust…the result will have to be valuable.”
Deda is getting into the market intelligence business just as the big run up in luxury prices hit a slowdown in the high-end market.
The global nature of that market, where brands can sell online and ship anywhere, makes keeping up with the ebb and flow of pricing all the more important.
“The last two years brought a real crisis into the fashion industry,” said Maurizio Catellani, who will remain CEO of Competitoor. (Catellani, along with founder Maximilian Lanaro, will continue to hold a minority stake in the business.)
“The use of a tool like Competitoor has become more and more important to understand how to position their product and which ones are the key differentiator point compared to the competition,” Catellani said.
And the rise of several trade wars started by President Donald Trump brings prices all the more to the fore.
“The impact of tariffs could be that there will be significant price fluctuation,” Catellani said. “We need to help brands to keep track of this change and adjust the pricing strategy accordingly.
“We collect data,” he said. “And our key differentiator is the fact that we turn data into information and information today is the most important thing that we can give deliver.”
