When Etro hired Marco De Vincenzo back in 2022, it looked like a clean break. He was the first creative director outside the founding family, after all. A new chapter, a fresh point of view. Four years later, that chapter closes the way these things usually do, with a polite statement, and right on cue with a broader shift happening behind the scenes.
At Etro, De Vincenzo didn’t really change the formula. No reset, not even a proper shift, just a steady push in the same direction. Which is tricky when that direction goes all the way back to 1968. Prints stayed central, the styling got sharper, and the collections finally shed some of their nostalgia. His version of Etro fit the moment. It was modernized enough to be seen, yet not everyone watching reached for their wallets.
Before De Vincenzo, Etro was already limping, slow growth, post-COVID slump, a bit tired. When he came in, things spiked a little in 2022, then slid again over the next couple of years. Technically better than the worst years before him, but not by much. Nothing stabilized, nothing really grew. After 2021, the brand was sold to private equity (L Catterton). De Vincenzo came in under that new ownership, but the ride stayed bumpy. By 2025, the Etro family was completely out, leaving the company in the hands of investors still figuring out what the brand should be today.
How much past is a brand allowed to keep before it just becomes noise? A loud one too. Here’s hoping the next chapter answers that. And that Etro still feels like Etro once it finds its peace.
