Barbara De Rigo on stopping shipments to America, Chopard's latest Cannes eyewear and building a vertically integrated company

Fashion Network

07-05-2025

Barbara was born in nearby Cortina, where next year's Winter Olympics will be staged. Launched over 40 years ago, De Rigo's top in-house label was born in Belluno, and has grown into a veritable lifestyle brand with watches, jewelry, leather goods, shoes and ready-to-wear. And a much-noted fragrance license that led to a skull shaped cologne, To Be, a play of Hamlet's famed soliloquy by Shakespeare.
Parallel, De Rigo has developed several eyewear licenses with runway brands like Zadig & Voltaire and Roberto Cavalli.
'We started three years ago with Roberto Cavalli, a long-term license that includes Just Cavalli. It's a super iconic brand by a very original designer who developed a great maximalist concept. We focus on transferring the codes of the house into sunglasses; like animalia or snake. It's a super good collab' even if less known in Asia,' she notes. Conceding that key markets for Cavalli –eastern Europe and Russia- have been badly disrupted due to the ongoing war.
While Zadig & Voltaire –first signed a decade ago– is growing steadily. 'We like to follow the path of each brand. To me, Zadig & Voltaire is like the female part of Police almost –pretty rock n roll and clever winks. In France alone, Roberto Cavalli eyewear retails in 130 sales points; Just Cavalli in 300 and Zadig & Voltaire in 1,800.
Back in 1995, De Rigo began listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 1995, before delisting five years, though the family regards it as very much as positive experience.
'It was a very important move as it allowed us to have access to financial resources. After that we developed our retail business, prior to that we were essentially in wholesale,' recalls Barbara, noting that today the group owns over 1,000 eyewear boutiques.
In a series of acquisitions, De Rigo acquired chains in the Iberian peninsula, Turkey and in the UK, where it bought Dollond & Aitchison, the oldest chain in Britain and an official supplier to the Royal Family. It subsequently folded Dollond & Aitchison into Boots Opticians, making a major chain of 600 boutiques in which it holds a 40% stake. Other than that, the De Rigo Group is fully owned by the family of founder Ennio De Rigo, Barbara's father.
Becoming vertically integrated was essential for the long-term strategy, Barbara insists. 'It has been vital in many different ways. Now we have a much shorter distribution chain – direct from production to retail. Stores are also very good sources of information, where you learn and understand a lot of things. By having our own retail stores, we can test the temperature of the market and consumers, be flexible and react quickly.
Success has brought recognition to the family, and to founder Ennio, who was awarded the Cavaliere del Lavoro by President Sergio Mattarella. It's a special distinction given to special entrepreneurs, the likes of Giorgio Armani, Diego Della Valle and Brunello Cucinelli.
'It was a very important honor for my father to receive. He began in real estate become coming here and opening his first eyewear plant in 1978 and developing lots of new ideas in optics. It's a unique Italian recognition and we were very proud of him to receive it,' she concluded.
Roll on Cannes.