April, 25th, 2013

Paris | Milan | PINAULT POMELLATO

Chief Executive Officer Francois-Henri Pinault proclaimed it “20+ billion sales by 2020”. 24 billion exactly. Subject to the approval at the Annual General Meeting on 18 June 2013, Pinault-Printemps-Redoute until 18 May 2005 and PPR will be rebranded as Kering.

It is indeed a B2B image-repositioning as the company is taking higher stakes onto luxury, sport & lifestyle divisions and retail brands in, already, 120 countries. These higher stakes are to grow Kering by targeted acquisitions. The last coup, after January’s participation in Christopher Kane, is
Pino Rabolini’s Italian jewellery group Pomellato Gioielli.

An innovative and profitable jewellery group with great growth potential
Pomellato and Dodo brands highly complementary to Kering’s other jewellery brands

Kering announced today the signing of an agreement with RA.MO S.p.A to acquire a majority stake in the Pomellato group. The transaction is subject to the approval of the competition authorities and is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks. Andrea Morante will remain CEO of the company.

Pomellato, whose 2012 revenues reached €146 million, is one of Europe’s major jewellery groups, with a strong international position. The company’s success is based on the personality and unmistakeable style of its creations unique in their blend of colours, stones and extraordinary shapes as well as their fine craftsmanship.

The Pomellato group is a profitable and growing Italian business with two brands, Pomellato and Dodo, the first positioned within the fine jewellery segment and the latter within the accessible jewellery segment. Its distribution network includes 86 mono-brand stores (45 Pomellato, 41 Dodo) as well as approximately 600 independent points of sale around the world.

Synonymous with creativity and character in the international jewellery scenario, Pomellato was born in 1967, spawned by the intuition of its founder, Pino Rabolini. The descendant of a long line of goldsmiths, Rabolini introduced the prêt-à-porter concept into the world of jewellery, giving the brand a strong and distinctive identity, thanks to which Pomellato rapidly gained ground on the Italian market and in the rest of the world, becoming the 4th jewellery brand in Europe and one of the key players in the international jewellery scenario.

The company’s success is based on the personality and unmistakeable style of its creations – unique in their blend of colours, stones and extraordinary shapes, and in their fine craftsmanship.

Pomellato jewellery is crafted in Italy with all the care of artisans, and only ever using raw materials of the highest quality standards.

Starting from the classic jewellery-making tradition, over the years Pomellato has developed innovative stone cutting and setting methods, conferring characteristics of shape, light and colour to the jewellery that give the whole range unmistakeable personality and style.

Constantly renewing the collections is Pomellato’s strong point: pursuing a dynamic and current flair while confirming the brand’s tradition and values.

Every collection interprets the “mood” of the years in which it was created, and never goes out of fashion: Re and Regina pendants (70s), Griffe rings (1995), Gourmette (1997), Lucciole (2000), Victoria (2001), Nudo (2001) and M’ama non m’ama (2009) are “evergreen” jewels, strongly associated with Pomellato.

1995 spawned Dodo, the first jewel combining a decorative function with the idea of conveying a message. With a unisex and multi-generational allure, Dodo – an independent brand since 2001 – owes its success to the universal language of emotions.

To celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2007, Pomellato launched the Pom Pom collection, that marked its debut in high-end jewellery. Every ring of this collection is designed around stones that are unique in their rarity, large size or irregular shape. Sophisticated, excessive, contemporary jewels, whose high value combines culture and an unconventional flair.

2012 was the debut year for Pomellato 67, with the brand reinterpreting the rock and transgressive spirit of the late 60s in a stunning collection, translating the style codes of the Milanese maison into solid silver.

Pomellato has been an innovative “trend-setter” also in the field of communication, with advertising campaigns by famous photographers like Helmut Newton, Gian Paolo Barbieri, Lord Snowdon, Michel Comte (author of the SHOTS project), Paolo Roversi and Javier Vallhonrat.

Pomellato is a company that places special emphasis on all the problems concerning the production chain, and is acutely aware of environmental issues. For instance, Pomellato:

– only purchases stones with an international certification;

– uses raw materials extracted or processed in compliance with international agreements.

Pomellato has supported the WWF Italy since 1995. In particular, Dodo was created as a brand placing special emphasis on the environment, also intending to heighten its customers’ awareness of the problems related to the protection of endangered species.

Pomellato holds the prescribed environmental authorisations which entail the execution of periodical checks, sampling and analyses. Every year, moreover, Pomellato invests in workers’ protection and safety.

In addition to supporting WWF Italy, in 2009 Pomellato began donating to the association Unione Volontari Infanzia (Volunteers for Children Association). Furthermore, in the two-year period 1994 – 1995, Pomellato launched a charity project in collaboration with the photographer Michel Comte. It’s the SHOTS project, a gallery of portraits signed by Michel Comte, involving dozens of celebrities in the cinema and fashion worlds, that was concluded with a charity auction whose proceedings went to the construction of the orthopaedic hospital in Kabul.

Phonetically, it is pronounced as “Caring”, but also plays with the origins of the business in the Brittany region of France. In Breton ker means ‘home’ or ‘place to live’. The new logo also takes an owl as its new emblem, an animal which carries a deep signifance. “Kering is a name with meaning, a name that expresses both our purpose and our corporate vision. Strengthened by this new identity, we shall continue to serve our brands to liberate their potential for growth”, François-Henri Pinault, CEO.