What Luxury Slowdown? Alsara Investment Group Launches New Fashion Brand

MILAN — Alsara Investment Group is launching a new luxury brand called Retori that will be entirely made in Italy.

Comprising women’s and men’s ready-to-wear and accessories collections, the new brand is dubbed as trans-seasonal and will be presented twice a year.

“Retori draws its name from rhetoric, the art of storytelling,” said Salma Rachid, founder and creative director. “Each collection is a chapter, infused with the emotional stories of artists from around the globe. The brand connects a diverse community of artists, enabling them to share their unique journeys through life.”

Retori will be headquartered in Milan, where the first collection — Chapter 01 — will be unveiled with the first sales campaign starting Tuesday and with a launch moment in the second half of 2024.

Rachid said her intention is to “blend comfort and practicality with elegance, creating garments that do more than just dress the body —they resonate with personal stories helping wearers embrace the unfolding journeys of life.”

The designer is the daughter of Rachid Mohamed Rachid, who established Alsara Investment Group in 2017.

Shahzad Akhtar, chief executive officer of Alsara Investment Group, expressed his pride in the launch of Retori, which “embodies the key values we support at Alsara: talent, product and innovation.”

Alsara is developing a group of luxury brands based in Milan, which includes cool puffer label Khrisjoy and design venture Fromm, while it is reviving the label of Walter Albini, one of the founders of Italy’s ready-to-wear. The idea is to promote “the Italian savoir faire all over the world,” said Akhtar.

Other brands and companies in the group’s portfolio include Akoni, which produces eyewear for Valentino and Balmain; investor Bidayat; Egypt-based jewelry brand Azza Fahmy; accessories label Okhtein, and Flyroom. Salma Rachid is also creative director of Akoni.

Despite the current volatile and difficult global geopolitical scene, Alsara is confident about the launch. “The market of luxury still has potential of growth for innovative ideas and new challenges,” contended Zaccheo Manzoni, who has been named CEO of Retori. The brand, he believes, “talks to creative communities who are looking for a harmonious blend of comfort and practicality with elegance and beauty.”

In January, Alsara told WWD it was working on incubating a new men’s and women’s ready-to-wear brand. “Alsara offers an exciting opportunity to build the next generation of luxury brands on the pillars of talent, great products and innovation,” Akhtar remarked at the time. Milan is also an important reference, said Akhtar, as the base for a veritable fashion hub for Alsara. “It was natural for us to choose Milan. Why go anywhere else as this is a key fashion and financial capital, home to power brands, and it nurtures innovation and creativity, blending history, culture and heritage, energizing talents and brands.”

Akhtar was named group CEO of Alsara Strategic Investments last July,  a new position at the company, pointing to an increased focus on brand building and mergers and acquisition activities.

Alsara Investment Group is an international private investment company based in Switzerland. In addition to a portfolio of owned and operated investments in luxury brands, it provides investment advisory and management, and invests in venture capital, private equity and growth funds. In 2021 it bought a majority stake in Khrisjoy with a view to expanding its global reach, product offer and digital capabilities. Positioned in the luxury range of the market and made in Italy, the brand has garnered a cult following with its Khris cocooning hooded puffer jacket. Last February, Khrisjoy held a presentation during Milan Fashion Week, a first for the Italian brand, designed by Marzia Bellotti, that signaled a new course.

Rachid Mohamed Rachid is also the chairman of Valentino and CEO of the brand’s parent company Mayhoola, which also owns Balmain and Italian menswear brand Pal Zileri. Earlier in his career he served as Egypt’s minister of trade, industry and investment, and was an executive at Unilever.