Golden Goose Group SpA continued to grow in the first quarter of the year, posting an 11 percent increase in revenues totaling 164.5 million euros, compared with the same period last year. In the three months ended March 31, at constant exchange rates, sales rose 12 percent.
“We are very proud to see that Golden Goose continued to deliver double-digit growth in [the first quarter], driven once again by the exceptional performance of the DTC channel,” said chief executive officer Silvio Campara. “While we are very confident on the strength of our brand, we remain vigilant in the context of the current geopolitical and economic landscape. We are grateful and inspired by the continued support of our family and loyal community of customers.”
Direct-to-consumer revenues rose 19 percent, representing 76 percent of the total compared with 71 percent in the first quarter last year. The channel grew 30 percent year-on-year in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region; 13 percent in the Americas, and 9 percent in the Asia-Pacific area, with the region returning to growth.
Golden Goose had 218 stores at the end of the first quarter, with three new openings in the period.
In March, the brand opened a pop-up at Selfridges Corner Shop, focused on co-creation and transforming the space into an antique shop, named “The Archive of Dreams.”
“This is the first step toward a larger presence in the U.K., culminating in the highly anticipated opening of our flagship store on Mount Street later this year — a space that will elevate the in-store and co-creation experience to new heights,” Campara said at the time of the opening.
A pop-up opened in Manila, and the company also launched a new experiential store concept in New York’s Meatpacking District, also focused on co-creation. This is the brand’s fourth physical retail space in the city, with other stores located in SoHo, the Upper East Side and a shop-in-shop inside Bloomingdale’s 59th Street flagship.
The new concept also features the Con Amore Corner, which provides personalized gift-wrapping options as well as coffee, sweet treats and fresh flowers.
What’s more, the Meatpacking store features a music room where curated vinyl records are available on headphones, an “Artisanal Lab” for a one-on-one personalization experience with craftspeople and a bespoke sneaker program.
As reported, at the end of January, Blue Pool Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment firm and family office, acquired a 12 percent stake in Golden Goose . The Hong Kong-based family office was set up by Joe Tsai, cofounder and chairman of the Alibaba Group. Funds advised by Permira retained a majority investment.
Permira acquired a majority stake in the brand in 2020 to accelerate its growth through direct-to-consumer channels, in particular online and retail, and diversify its product assortment.
The sale to Blue Pool Capital was a new development after Golden Goose delayed its initial public offering in June at the 11th hour due to European market volatility. Campara has told WWD that “the process never finished for us, we continue to create value aligned with our investors, and when there will be the right market conditions, it will be an option that we will consider.”
Earlier this month, Golden Goose said it planned to sell 480 million euros of senior secured floating-rate notes expected to mature in 2031 to refinance its debt due in 2027.
In order to mitigate the negative effects of U.S. tariffs, “we are implementing several initiatives,” said the company in a statement, anticipating “no material impact from U.S. tariffs on our profitability. These initiatives include a limited repricing on our U.S. non-permanent assortment, and an efficiency improvement of our U.S. product importing strategy. Moreover, we are also actively evaluating additional strategies to further enhance efficiency and optimize profitability. The implementation and effectiveness of any such countermeasures may require some time before yielding the expected effects in full and, as a consequence, we may experience some volatility in the short term with respect to our results from sales made in the United States.”
The brand has also strengthened its presence in skateboarding and racket sports with two athletes as global brand ambassadors: the two-time Olympic gold medalist for skateboarding Keegan Palmer, and padel star Arturo Coello. It also signed on tennis stars Jasmine Paolini and Zizou Bergs, and padel icons Marta Ortega and Juan Lebrón as new global brand ambassadors.
In February, Golden Goose tapped Jane Fonda to front the new campaign celebrating its Super-Star sneaker, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Joining Fonda in the campaign are Palmer, Ossola, American restaurateur and entrepreneur Joe Bastianich, and fashion stylist Cristina Ehrlich.
In addition, it introduced two special limited editions of the sneaker designed by global brand ambassador Jackson Yee and dedicated to the APAC market.
