Aeffe S.p.A. was founded in the 1970s by Alberta Ferretti and grew to become one of Italy's publicly listed luxury fashion groups, owning Moschino, Alberta Ferretti, Pollini, and Philosophy. Moschino — acquired by Aeffe in 1999 — was the group's crown jewel, an internationally recognized brand known for its irreverent, pop-culture-infused aesthetic that commanded licensing revenue and global department store presence.
By 2025 the group was in severe financial distress. A luxury market downturn — particularly in the critical Chinese market — had cut consolidated revenues by approximately 28%. The group's EBITDA turned deeply negative, while net debt reached approximately €115 million, a level that made conventional refinancing impossible. The luxury fashion sector's post-pandemic normalization punished groups with high leverage and multiple brand structures hardest.
On 2 October 2025, the Aeffe board voted to file for Composizione Negoziata della Crisi (CNC). The filing covered Aeffe SpA and its loss-making subsidiary Pollini, while Alberta Ferretti and Philosophy were excluded — a ring-fencing strategy to protect the healthier brands. Riccardo Ranalli was appointed independent expert on 10 October 2025 to oversee negotiations. A binding offer of €115 million later emerged from a consortium including the Ferretti family and a Chinese partner, proposing to license Moschino in China in exchange for wiping the group's debt.
Filed for CNC crisis protection, ring-fencing Aeffe and Pollini while excluding healthier brands, to negotiate a €115M debt-wiping offer.
Aeffe was over-leveraged heading into a luxury downturn — when high-margin revenue growth stopped, debt service consumed all available cash and the group had no buffer for restructuring
Moschino's brand heat had cooled after years of reliance on licensing revenue rather than direct retail growth, leaving the group overexposed to a single brand that was no longer growing fast enough
The group lacked a second brand with sufficient scale to compensate — Alberta Ferretti and Philosophy were strong but niche, and Pollini was itself in crisis, dragging down the entire holding company
The CNC filing ring-fenced Aeffe SpA and Pollini while excluding healthier brands — an admission that the group structure could no longer carry its debt across all labels
A luxury group with too many brands and too much debt cannot outrun a market downturn — the strongest brands get ring-fenced, and the weakest drag everyone else down
Aeffe's CNC filing triggered a sharp stock decline in a single day, with shares reaching €0.40 — levels not seen since 2010. The independent expert Riccardo Ranalli was appointed on 10 October 2025 to oversee negotiations. By July 2026, a binding offer of €115 million had emerged from a consortium including the Ferretti family and a Chinese industrial partner. The proposal included granting an exclusive license of the Moschino brand for the Chinese market and aimed to free the company from debt. Alberta Ferretti and Philosophy continued operating outside the CNC process.
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