MILAN — The eco-minded, retail-centered strategy of swimwear brand Kampos won the interest of a pool of investors.
The brand, established by former Procter & Gamble and Swarovski alum Alessandro Vergano in 2019, has sold a 35 percent interest to private capital and venture capital funds Mega Holding, Cherry Bay Capital Group and Pambianco Invest Club. Strategic investors Ulixes Capital Partners and Fenix also participated in the transaction.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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The investment is geared at strengthening and expanding Kampos’ footprint internationally. The brand currently counts 12 flagships, two of which are operated via a partner at the Maldives.
In 2022 the company, which gained the B Corp seal of approval, generated sales of 1.3 million euros and Vergano expects to more than double its turnover in 2023, targeting the 3 million euros threshold.
“I think that investors were triggered by our approach during the COVID-19 pandemic when all brands were at a standstill and we kept investing and pressing on,” Vergano told WWD.
In summer 2020, Kampos opened its first retail outpost inside Promenade du Port, a seafront retail complex located in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. The following year it added more premium resort destinations, including Porto Rotondo and San Pantaleo, also in Italy’s Sardinia, before rolling out banners in Alassio, Forte Dei Marmi and Pietrasanta, among others, in 2022.
Last year Kampos ventured outside Italy for the first time, forging a retail alliance with Planhotel Hospitality Group to distribute the brand’s playful swimming trunks and bikinis at the company’s Maldivian resorts, Diamonds Thudufushi and Diamonds Athuruga.
The company also formed a joint venture with a local partner in South Korea, where it opened a store on Jeju Island and plans to debut a second unit in Busan by April. “South Korea was a positive surprise because our products are designed with Western customers in mind,” Vergano said. “Our sustainable luxury formula and penchant for Made in Italy won them over,” he said.
Vergano has confidence that opening the doors to investors will help accelerate business, especially in retail. “It is our primary focus because I think we found the right formula, with our stores becoming profitable within a year of opening,” he said.
In 2023 the main geographic focus will be Europe, with plans to add flagships in Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera, Spain, and in Cannes and Saint-Tropez on the Côte d’Azur, in France, while bulking up its footprints in the domestic market.
Debuted as a retail-ready and direct-to-consumer brand, Kampos has learned to leverage the benefits of wholesale exposure, too.
“At the beginning it was a no-go. During the pandemic it would have been unlikely to get retailers to even consider adding a new brand to their offering,” Vergano explained.
A range of small-scale projects linked to hospitality with the Park Hyatt and the Four Seasons hotels gave the founder confidence to give wholesale a second try. Starting this year, the brand will be carried at five units of the Rinascente department store where it will also mount takeovers and activations. It also inked a deal with Printemps, which will spotlight Kampos in its swimwear section, and with cruise operator MSC, becoming the only swimwear brand to be carried on the Explora top-tier, eco-minded cruises.
In 2024 Vergano plans to focus on the U.S., which has been a strong contributor to the company’s e-commerce success. He said online sales in the region were 20-fold compared to Italy last year. “E-commerce is strategic and useful for repurchases, [from] clients who discovered Kampos at our stores and then shop online, as well as to outreach clients we may not be able to tap into otherwise,” Vergano said.
The brand offers swimming trunks and bikinis, as well as a children’s wear range and a lineup of uncomplicated resortwear designs for men and women, including cotton T-shirts, chino pants and linen kaftans, with ready-to-wear now accounting for 30 percent of the overall business.
Born with a sustainable inclination, strengthened after it became a B Corp, Kampos relies on a network of around 20 suppliers, which it directly audits, boasting control on its entire supply chain. The bulk of its textiles are regenerated nylon yarns sourced from suppliers located within 56 miles of Milan. They include Aquafil’s Econyl obtained from plastic waste, such as discarded fishing nets, carpets and fabric scraps, and Dentis’ New Life yarns made of recycled PET plastics.
The company pledges 5 percent of its turnover to eco-inflected initiatives. After wrapping up its previous partnership with One Ocean Foundation, a charity overseen by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Italy, Kampos started supporting Planhotel’s Coral Conservation Project and a climate change-focused project spearheaded by the UiT The Arctic University of Norway, known as University of Tromsø.
The Kampos investment represents the first M&A activity jointly carried out by Mega Holding and Cherry Bay Capital Group, which concurrently announced they will partner to support innovative and sustainable startups as they scale up.