Italian luxury fashion brand Marni just announced Francesco Risso’s departure as creative director after a decade at the helm. His successor has not yet been named.
Marni just announced Francesco Risso’s departure as creative director
During his tenure, Francesco transformed Marni’s design philosophy, elevating the brand’s approach to materiality and craftsmanship. His vision redefined what fashion can be—moving beyond aesthetics to create garments that forge deeper connections between wearer and cloth.
“Francesco’s work revolutionized how we think about texture and touch in design. He brought renewed focus to the tactile qualities that make each piece distinctive, reimbuing soulfulness into every yarn of mohair, every thread of silk. Under his direction, Marni collections became explorations of both form and feeling. His time at Marni was defined by creativity, emotion, and a fearless sense of exploration. We’re grateful for the world we built together, and his influence will continue to shape our future,” per Marni’s post on LinkedIn.
Risso’s departure from Marni appears to be a part of a broader creative shuffle within parent company OTB Group, which recently appointed Simone Bellotti as Jil Sander creative director and confirmed Glenn Martens for Diesel and Maison Margiela.
Francesca Villa’s pivotal role in shaping Marni
At the helm of Marni since 2016, Francesco Risso invokes a new, 21st-century Renaissance through the creative misuse of sartorial storytelling. Risso stands out for his preternatural attention to detail, heritage, pattern making and materiality that perfectly bridge the gap between the conceptual and the wearable. The DNA of Italian craftsmanship is evident in every thread (with a heavy dose of Risso’s imagined dreamscape). A designer with a fantastical childhood at sea and an adolescence steeped in the ’90s subculture of Italy, Risso has reinvented Marni as a brand with an ardent fan base.
Risso grew up as the wallflower of a noisy family, and quickly discovered fashion design as a means of communicating with the world; a lexicon composed of anything he could scavenge from the wardrobes of his grandparents, guests, or sisters. This rebellious streak would prove itself a permanent fixture in his disposition as a designer. At sixteen Francesco ran away to Florence to study fashion at Polimoda. From there, he attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City before receiving an M.A. from the renowned Central Saint Martins in London. After university, Risso worked for several designers, including Anna Molinari at Blumarine, Alessandro Dell’Acqua, and Malo, before joining Prada in 2006 to work on womenswear. Ten years later, he was appointed creative director of Marni.
While still paying homage to the eccentric roots from which Marni had garnered a cult following, Risso has reinvented experimental fashion by approaching design as a “gesamtkunstwerk”— a total work of art—merging theory, exquisite mastery of technique and naturalistic inclinations. By collaborating with a global community of like-minded peers across mediums, Risso fosters a dialogue between fashion and the arts, celebrating the moment the gown becomes a canvas and the canvas a gown.
About Marni
Marni just announced Francesco Risso’s departure as creative director
Founded in Milan in 1994 by Swiss fashion designer Consuelo Castiglioni in collaboration with her business partner and husband Gianni Castiglioni Marni has become internationally renowned for its experimental collections. Per BoF: “Consuelo Castiglioni won praise for her sophisticated and forward-thinking designs that boasted a cult global following and admiration from influential industry insiders. Despite no formal education in fashion design, her sharp silhouettes with its bold prints and textures made her one of the most creative designers in Fashion.”
Initially a side business of the Castiglioni’s fur business the label became independent of the family business in 1999 and Consuelo Castiglioni developed a fashion-forward experimental design aesthetic. While fur continued to feature in Marni collections the brand was widely popular for its original prints designed in alliance with artists such as photographer Richard Prince, pop artist Sir Peter Blake and musician Kim Gordon. In 2000 the brand expanded into key markets and opened near hundred standalone stores and luxury department stores. During this time Marni forayed into e-retail with the launch of an online store which not only offered e-commerce but also presented the world of Marni through dedicated sections on its artistic collaborations and key projects.
In 2012 Consuelo Castiglioni inked a creative collaboration with H&M and the result was a sellout capsule collection. Although Marni remained a family owned business for over fifteen years… in 2012 it was acquired by Renzo Rosso’s OTB Group whose brands include Diesel- Maison Margiela- Viktor and Rolf- Paula Cademartor-, Staff International and Brave Kid. “It’s the natural completion to the road embarked upon with the acquisition of the brand founded twenty years ago by Consuelo and Gianni Castiglioni” he stated.
Here on.. Marni adopted its parent company’s sustainability initiatives. The OTB Group Sustainability Report 2022 brings together all projects and initiatives that contribute to the further responsible development of the company preserving the environmental and social ecosystems in the coming years. The Group Sustainability Strategy “Be Responsible. Be Brave” reflects OTB’s commitment to the environment, product sustainability and people. The Report records the Group’s carbon footprint for 2020-22 and its continuous monitoring to achieve the Net Zero target in internal operations by 2030.
In October 2016 Consuelo Castiglioni stepped down from Marni. That year the company appointed Francesco Risso– alumnus of FIT New York and Central St. Martins London and former designer at Prada- as Creative Director. Per Harvey Nichols’ portal he said, “I’m driven by a concept I call ‘retrovolution’ — taking everything you have learned in the past.. all the traditions.. and moving beyond by challenging it. Routes have no borders and every collection is an exercise in bringing thoughts and ideas to life through form. Marni has always been recognised for its bold patterns and upbeat silhouettes but ultimately we want to create a synthesis of colour and shape.”
In 2018 Stefano Biondo was appointed CEO. However, there was a change of guard at Marni. Stephano Biondo exited the company and its parent group OTB and was succeeded by Barbara Calo who at that time held the title of General Manager. Calò joined Marni in 2016 as Global Omni-Channel Director and in her new position reported to OTB CEO Ubaldo Minelli. She was later promoted to CEO.
Structural changes notwithstanding… Marni continues to be bold experimental and fashion forward. Per Vogue- for Fall Winter RTW 2023: “Going back to the love he feels for his metier keeps him grounded… For the Marni creative director clothes are living creatures.. they touch, breath, move; it’s a love dance, a sentimental relationship…”
Jasmeen Dugal is Associate Editor at FashionABC, contributing her insights on fashion, technology, and sustainability. She brings with herself more than two decades of editorial experience, working for national newspapers and luxury magazines in India.
Jasmeen Dugal has worked with exchange4media as a senior writer contributing articles on the country’s advertising and marketing movements, and then with Condenast India as Net Editor where she helmed Vogue India’s official website in terms of design, layout and daily content. Besides this, she is also an entrepreneur running her own luxury portal, Explosivefashion, which highlights the latest in luxury fashion and hospitality.
