MATTEO MARZOTTO
THE SHARP-SUITED PHILANTHROPIST
Business success has not diminished Matteo Marzotto’s commitment to his greatest passion: a charity founded in memory of his sister
Matteo Marzotto poses for
prominent Italian portrait
photographer Armando RotolettiText: Francesca Lombardo
Scion of a famous Italian industrial dynasty, darling of the society pages, and Italy’s most eligible bachelor, 40-year-old Matteo Marzotto recently stepped down as chairman of fashion house Valentino SPA. But while he may be changing one job, he continues his commitment to another: the role of joint president of the Fondazione per la Ricerca sulla Fibrosi Cistica (FFC), the Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis Research, an organisation he helped found following the death of his beloved sister from the disease.
Despite an impressive media profile — which grew significantly while he was head of Valentino — Matteo takes a deeply conscientious and down-to-earth attitude to life. Words like responsibility, commitment, determination and mission often crop up in conversation with him.
“I come from a world of businesspeople where the concept of work has always been taken very seriously,” he explains in calm, well-modulated tones, “I’ve absorbed this atmosphere since I was very young, first watching my grandfather, then my father who taught me about rigour and commitment.”
Matteo also praises his uncle Pietro: “From him I learned that work can be a vocation and a mission, and that rigour can go hand in hand with a passion for what you’re doing.”
Valentino’s autumn—winter 07/08 collection
He acknowledges that he has been lucky with family influences: “Having them as role models has made a huge difference to the person I’ve become.”
The results of this family training were obvious in the professional life of the young businessman, who became chairman of Valentino in 2002 at just 34. Despite being one of the most prestigious luxury brands in the world, Valentino was not doing well. Matteo rolled up his sleeves and set to work to heal the “patient”, as he describes it.
“When I took on Valentino, I already had very valuable experience at Ferré behind me,” he says. However, he faced a more substantial challenge when it came to turning around a colossus like Valentino. “We had to carry out an immense restructuring and reorganisation process in terms of reducing costs, but on a much more fundamental level we worked on repositioning the product,” Matteo explains.
Four-year-old
Matteo and sister
Annalisa in their
family homeThe tradition embodied by the designer Valentino himself, coupled with Matteo’s dynamic new vision, created an explosive success which filled the company coffers and restored the brand to its former glory. “The luxury goods market had changed a lot in recent years,” he says, “having an in-depth knowledge of the consumers we were trying to reach and diversifying the product were the keys to our strategy.”
Valentino’s trademark evening gown is no longer the fashion house’s trump card: “In order to reach a wider public and get away from a niche market, it was important to move into daywear as well,” says Matteo. The businessman and the stylist succeeded in their mission: “We balanced sales of the products which were becoming newly competitive on the luxury goods market. That was our main aim.”
Matteo at the
Monza rallyBut having achieved all this, the young executive began to consider his next step. “It took years of hard work and commitment, but at this point I think my contribution to Valentino has come to an end.”
Having stepped down from the clothing company, Matteo is looking for a new challenge. While he is reluctant to talk about his future plans, it will definitely be a project that will give his competitive nature the chance to express itself to the full: “I’ll stay in the fashion sector, I’m sure of that, but it’s too early to make a decision yet. At the moment I’m just looking around.”
One fixed point in Matteo’s life seems to be his role as joint president of the Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis Research, which he co-founded in 1997 and which has Myair.com as one of its main sponsors. This position is very close to his heart; in his early 20s, he lost his older sister, Annalisa, to cystic fibrosis, a genetic illness widespread in Italy but of which there is little public awareness.
“I would say that Annalisa was more than a sister — she was like a mother to me. I’m very grateful to her — she’s my guardian angel.”
On his De Rosa bicycleMatteo has long been conscious of a duty to make the most of his visibility to promote the Foundation. “It’s a passion for me,” he says.
And in between all the work, social and charitable commitments, how does Matteo handle speculation in the scandal sheets about his private life? “I couldn’t care less. If I have a girlfriend or I have dinner with a female friend, you journalists are welcome to write about it. I haven’t got anything to hide. I live a normal life and I’m happy with myself.” www.fibrosicisticaricerca.it