It was already in the air and today further confirmation was given: the Otb Group di Renzo Rosso will arrive at Borsa Italiana between 2024 and 2025. This was confirmed this morning by the CEO of Otb, Ubaldo Minelli during the presentation of the first sustainability report of the international fashion hub founded by entrepreneur Renzo Rosso, which owns the brands Diesel, Maison Margiela, Marni, Viktor & Rolf, Jil Sander, Amiri and the companies Staff International and Brave Kid.
“We've been thinking about the listing for a while, it's our ambition: we have set ourselves a time target between the end of 2024 and 2025,” he said. “The sustainability report is not a first step, but one of the steps that goes in that direction” she added.
After all, Red himself in an interview with Firstonline he had anticipated it last April: "In a company that grows continuously like ours, there is a need for maximum transparency and the direct participation of all my employees who must be able to be members of a company that have contributed with me to making grow,” says Rosso. “Then the quotation also responds to succession reasons, because by now the first 3 of my 7 children have joined OTB and each one, if it is valid, must have its own space”.
Sustainability doesn't have to be just about greenwahing. Red locates 3 pillars
This morning, one year after the launch of the group strategy “Be Responsible. Well done", Otb presented its first sustainability report with reference to 2021 and the carbon footprint in the three-year period 2019-2021. A monitoring and reporting work that - based on three pillars “Protecting our Planet”, “the New Fashion System” e “Brave Together”– involved all its brands, departments and staff to measure the achievements.
“Sustainability, the real one, is only for the brave” Rosso said at the opening of the presentation. “Sustainability is not just producing a bag with recycled plastic: this is just called greenwashing. Instead there must be the basis of sustainability a state of mind, that is, the way in which a company decides to act in each area. The world is moving towards a greater quality of life and for an entrepreneur this means giving guarantees of reliability to his customers and employees. Today Otb has a team entirely dedicated to sustainability, with a manager for each brand. Among our brands, Diesel (which produces jeans and needs both energy and water in large quantities) is certainly the one that has made the greatest progress in terms of reducing its environmental impact, but every company is hard at work”.
Towards the acquisition of stakes in companies of excellence. Strong link with local industry
Sustainable and responsible development for the Otb Group passes through cooperation and a strong bond with the local industry. As of 2021, the company has over 1.600 suppliers, of which 73% based in Italy (which become 80% in the luxury segment), and almost 60% of total purchases made locally in the Belpaese. “But one further step will be the acquisition of holdings in reality of excellence who work for us, companies with which we don't want to limit ourselves to collaborating but where we believe it is right to be there with a share” says Minelli.
The Cash project with Bnp Paribas will continue: 400 million already disbursed
The project has been confirmed for the years to come CASH (Credito Facilitato – Suppliers' Help) which since 2013 allows eligible suppliers to collect in advance, through a bank, the receivables due from Otb at favorable economic conditions thanks to the high creditworthiness of the group which acts as guarantor. “The program has been of fundamental importance in supporting the broad supply chain, even in difficult years such as those related to the consequences of the pandemic, providing them with short and long-term stability. More than half of CASH's affiliated suppliers are micro-enterprises, a third are small enterprises and the remaining 10% are medium-sized enterprises” says Rosso.
Minelli echoes him: “The production chain is clearly vital for us. CASH was created in collaboration with the Bnp Paribas Group. In nine years we have disbursed, through this program, over 400 million euro. Even in the months paralyzed by the pandemic, we have kept our commitments with all our suppliers".
Business practices must also be sustainable. Domestic carbon neutrality by 2030
Two other key points for the Veneto Group are the circularity and traceability: thanks to the potential of the blockchain, developed by Aura Blockchain Consortium, of which Otb is a founding member, and of other technologies it aims to disseminate business practices socially responsible.
The goal is to reach the carbon neutrality of internal operations by 2030 e of the entire value chain by 2050 through an action plan with a strong focus on improving energy management and reducing the environmental footprint.
The report shows that 41% of the electricity used for OTB's internal operations comes from renewable sources. The company also joined the Roadmap to Zero Program of the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Foundation, ready to develop a strategy for responsible management of water resources and chemicals and the elimination of the use of hazardous chemicals from production processes by 2030. Furthermore, since 2020, Diesel has joined the Fashion Pact, the global coalition of fashion and textile companies, which acts in three main areas: mitigating global warming, restoring biodiversity and protecting the oceans.
Circular model in the fashion sector
Otb wants to play an active role in the transition to a circular pattern of the entire fashion sector and this shapes all the projects of the controlled brands, including the second hand di Diesel, a selection of used Diesel branded denim garments, repaired, refurbished and sold in selected Italian stores and online throughout Europe, Recycle, the project with which Maison Margiela proposes garments selected by the creative director John Galliano, restored and reappropriated as limited edition garments or accessories, Jil Sander+, a collection based on the research of products with organic, performing and often eco-sustainable fibres, the new line of the Myar brand, created by Brave Kid, which gives new life to scraps and leftovers of fabric, also coming from various companies of the Otb Group, following a logic of reduction, reuse and upcycle. There is then Marniphernalia of Marni, a project in which the brand has given new life to a series of cotton garments, drawing from previous collections and re-proposing over 800 items enriched with hand-made striped motifs, and the Viktor&Rolf Tulle Collection, a limited edition capsule that uses vintage garments recycled.
“We experiment with all the business models available on sustainability” specified Sara Mariani, chief sustainability officer of the group. “We approached the topic holistically. In the coming months we will implement the traceability of our products, mapping the entire supply chain, therefore also beyond the tier 1 suppliers. The project is in the implementation phase, but we are already 'bringing it to the ground' for some collections. Some Diesel garments, for example, already have a QR code for traceability".
Since 2015 the group has been part of the Responsible Luxury Initiative (ReLI), which also defines the principles of procurement of materials of animal origin for Otb brands and their suppliers.
Sustainability also passes through social issues: women, training and non-profit foundations
The commitment to a more inclusive and fair world takes the form of projects promoted both within and outside the Group. Among the main points that emerged from the report: in 2021, 51% of managerial positions are occupied by women out of a total of approximately 6.000 employees. 63% are women and 57% are under 30;
Strengthened programs training and valorisation of talents that put the new generations at the center of the future development of the Group such as, for example, the “Scuola dei Mestieri”, the practical learning school of Staff International which offers a selected group of talented students a internship and gives them the opportunity to become Fashion Maker 4.0.
Finally, OTB Foundation, the independent non-profit organization founded in 2008, has invested in over 300 social development projects that have had a direct positive impact on the lives of approximately 300.000 people. The foundation operates in Italy and around the world in support of the following categories: support for organizations that work for children and young people, assistance initiatives in support of women in difficulty and the development of integration projects for those who do not have a safe place where live, grow and study. In 2021, the OTB Foundation doubled the resources allocated to local communities compared to the previous year and divided the funds into various areas of intervention. 57% of the projects are destined for Italy and 43% for the rest of the world. Between 2020 and 2021, the Foundation dedicated a large part of its initiatives to countering the spread of Covid-19 in disadvantaged areas. In 2021 it was the first Italian foundation to accept the appeal of the United Nations Agency for the Protection of Refugees in Afghanistan after the return of the Taliban to power, providing shelter to around 1.500 people. In 2022 it was the first to respond to UNHCR's urgent appeal to help people and families fleeing Ukraine by helping to safely transport and welcome 442 refugees in Italy.
