The encyclopedia · People & Management · Operational decision · 2025–2026
Roberto Cavalli ran seven months without a CEO — then its Swiss site and 80 jobs went
After Damac put the brand up for partnership and Marquee Brands took over, Ticino staff were told the Swiss company is closing: about 80 jobs face dismissal.
Roberto Cavalli · Damac · Marquee Brands · 2026-05-20
What happened
Roberto Cavalli survived its US licensee's Chapter 7 in 2019 under new ownership: Dubai's Damac group, controlled by Hussain Sajwani, took the brand and promised investment. Six years later, in June 2025, the company announced it was exploring strategic partnerships to find 'the most suitable growth path' — the market read it as a sale process.
The drift was visible inside the company. By May 2026 the house had been without a CEO or a clear organisational structure for about seven months. A definitive agreement was signed selling a controlling stake to Marquee Brands, the US brand-management holding, with The Level Group in Milan set to run e-commerce, wholesale and retail for Europe and the United States.
The cost of the handover landed on the Swiss operation. On 20 May 2026 staff at Paradiso, Ticino — the site run as Auriel Investment SA, which holds the brand's local operation — were told in a plenary meeting of the planned cessation of activities and a collective dismissal affecting about 80 jobs.
Ticino's 'fashion valley', which has watched several labels retreat across the border, loses one more name. The Cavalli label continues — designed, managed and sold from Milan, by its fourth owner since the founder's era.
Why it happened
- Damac held the brand for six years without stabilising it, then handed it to a brand-management holding whose model is licensing — not running a Swiss operating company
- Seven months without a CEO during a change of control means no one was accountable for the transition; the workforce learned the outcome at a plenary meeting
- The Swiss site was a cost base of the old structure that the new owner's Milan-centred model simply does not carry
- Every ownership change since 2019 has been announced as a relaunch and settled as a reduction
The lesson
When a brand changes hands through a chain of relaunches, watch the org chart, not the press release — a change of control with no CEO and no structure resolves itself on the headcount.
Aftermath
The Marquee Brands deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. Auriel Investment SA's activities at Paradiso wind down with a collective dismissal procedure for roughly 80 staff. The Level Group takes over European and US e-commerce, wholesale and retail from Milan. The Roberto Cavalli name continues under Marquee Brands.
Sources
- tio.ch — Roberto Cavalli, verso il licenziamento collettivo: 80 dipendenti a Paradiso (20 May 2026)
- la Repubblica — La fashion valley del Ticino perde un altro pezzo: a rischio gli 80 dipendenti di Roberto Cavalli (21 May 2026)
- ComoZero — Roberto Cavalli chiude in Svizzera: 80 licenziamenti in vista (May 2026)
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