MILAN – The expansion of direct-to-consumer sales and investments in consumer experience contributed to a solid growth of Golden Goose across geographies in the first nine months of the year.

Revenues of the Italian brand rose 19 percent to 421 million euros in the period ended Sept. 30. Compared with 2021, sales climbed 60 percent. In the third quarter of 2023, revenues were up 16 percent to 144.6 million euros compared with the same period last year.

Profitability continued to grow with the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin rising to 34.8 percent. In the third quarter, the adjusted EBITDA increased by 18 percent year-on-year.

“Our performance today shows the power of our determination, innovation and ambition,” said chief executive officer Silvio Campara. “In the first nine months of 2023, we have opened new stores around the world and continued to engage with our global community in new ways through initiatives such as the Haus of Dreamers. Against a backdrop of well-documented headwinds, the Golden Goose brand and community have really shown their resilience and are what will carry us from strength to strength in the future.”

Compared with the first nine months of 2022, sales in the Americas rose 7 percent, accounting for 40 percent of the total. Revenues in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region climbed 27 percent, representing 43 percent of the total, and sales in Asia Pacific were up 9 percent, accounting for 17 percent of the total.

The direct-to-consumer expansion continued, and, as of Sept. 30, accounted for 69 percent of total sales. The retail channel has grown in all regions, driven by an outperformance of the EMEA market and reaching 55 percent of sales.

The digital channel accounts for 16 percent and wholesale for 29 percent of the total.

As reported, last month, during during the WWD x SKP Fashion & Beauty Global Summit in Chengdu, Campara said that “today it’s about giving voices to a lot of people, which we commonly call communities, but within a framework of values,” speaking of the brand’s luxury proposition, which focuses on the commitment to innovation, the valuation of craft, care for people and engagement with communities.

The company’s leverage has been reduced to 2.6 times, despite a recent supply chain insourcing.

Earlier this month, the group reached an agreement to take full control of Sirio, one of its footwear suppliers, after acquiring a 30 percent stake in the company in 2022, leading key manufacturing competences to be insourced, promoting the growth of the next generation of artisans.

Campara has long voiced the brand’s commitment to its handmade and artisanal tradition and in the fourth quarter last year, the company continued to invest in its vertical integration by acquiring its main supplier, Italian Fashion Team.

With this investment, about 40 percent of Golden Goose’s total production was to be brought in-house and produced by local talent in Apulia’s Salento footwear district. It also allowed the company to scale up production capacity for the next phase of growth and to oversee a large portion of the supply chain to ensure efficiency, sustainability, responsibility and transparency.

An academy will open next April in the company’s birthplace of Venice.

The company on Wednesday declined to provide information or a comment about a potential sale or an initial public offering, although market sources in Milan say Golden Goose has tapped Lazard as an adviser. The Permira-owned Golden Goose is viewed by many as a possible IPO candidate.

Campara, who joined the company as commercial director in 2013 and has now become a main shareholder, is open to the idea of taking the company public, he said in Chengdu. “We have always been owned by an investment fund, so technically, the relationship between dreaming and executing has always been quite strong and well executed,” Campara offered. “By going public, it will be simply to make this dream part available to a bigger audience.”

Earlier this year, Golden Goose expanded its footwear repair, remake, resell and recycling program Forward Stores, launched in 2022 and applicable to products from any brand, to its e-commerce platform. “Our idea is that Golden Goose can be the next Levi’s 501, the next Ray-Ban, it can be the product that you never throw out, you never resell, because there is too much of you to be given away,” the CEO said at the summit. He also revealed that the luxury shoemaker already reached 600 million euros in sales this year. More than 12 million pairs of Golden Goose sneakers have been sold in the past 10 years.

Currently, 196 Golden Goose stores, or 80 percent of its retail network, have repairing capability. The company is also opening two new factories, one in Venice and one in the U.S., to expand its shoe repair program.

In September the brand celebrated the reopening of its Paris flagship store on Rue des Saints-Pères, after a renovation that expanded the store to 4,000 square feet, with 10 expansive windows and a repair bar. It also brought its Haus of Dreamers, an all-encompassing cultural concept, to Paris Fashion Week, staging a series of mini-takeovers in the French capital. It was first introduced in Venice in May and has helped heighten global brand awareness.

The company has been engaging with its community also through the Haus of Dreamers events, based on the Haus creative global platform. At the end of August, it presented the fourth collection, Dreamed By, with K-pop artist Sunmi, comprising 25 Venetian masks embellished with Swarovski crystals. A capsule included a loose polo with “Run After Your Dreams” spelled out on the back, and Marathon sneakers with a silver ripstop, red glittering details and Lurex laces.

Haus of Dreamers collections have also been launched with Suki Waterhouse, Quannah Chasinghorse, Dr. Woo and Fabio Novembre.

Golden Goose will continue its cultural drive with the opening of the Haus concept in Marghera, outside of Venice, which will open its doors in May during the Art Biennale.

The brand was established in 2000 and is best known for its successful Superstar sneakers and intentionally distressed styles. In 2020, the company was acquired by the private equity fund Permira from the Carlyle Europe Buyout fund. The price tag was pegged at 1.28 billion euros.