EXCLUSIVE: Eredi Zucca Launches in the U.S. Via Violet Grey

MILAN —Eredi Zucca is landing in the U.S.

The Milan-based grooming brand that is part of D Capital’s beauty portfolio along with the likes of Isamaya Beauty and Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, is launching Stateside on Monday via an exclusive deal with Violet Grey.

In an interview with WWD, chief executive officer Fabio Cantù explained how the official foray into the American market comes as “we had key learnings through our own digital business and saw that, beside being our number-one market online, our local customers are loyal and recurring shoppers, so we’re really nurturing a community there.”

For Cantù, the tie-up with “a globally relevant partner” like Violet Grey will allow the company “to look at the market from another angle, a local one.” The retailer’s curation and online traction was as attractive to the CEO as its physical presence for the executive and he underscored how the brick-and-mortar outposts “will enable us to have a direct interaction with our customers.”

Cantù further acknowledged the retailer for having recognized the brand’s unique position in luxury grooming and hair care, which builds on the legacy of the Zucca family of barbers dating back to 1652, when Carlo Antonio Zucca opened his first barber shop in Milan.

These categories will be at the core of the selection of products Violet Grey will carry. The brand’s ever-expanding fragrance and lifestyle lines will also be part of the offering, and are seen as especially key for holiday.

“[Violet Grey] will have like a best selection [of products], which is great because we can then integrate this with the full assortment we have online,” said Cantù. “This is one of the markets that best reacted to our initial storytelling and DNA.…We noticed that a customer is initially drawn by our grooming and hair care lines, precisely because there’s a gap in the American market for this kind of high-end offering tailored for a modern gentleman. But once a client steps into our world, he organically moves to purchase the fragrances as well.”

Also propelled by the new “Santo” and “Ventuno” scents that will be included in Violet Grey’s assortment, Eredi Zucca’s fragrance line has grown rapidly to account for half of total sales, which Cantù didn’t disclose. Introduced last year, the eau de parfum collection was pivotal in enabling the brand to stretch its wholesale footprint and access new doors. Hence the goal is to keep expanding it, adding between two and four new scents a year, said Cantù.

The line nods to the visionary thinkers and trailblazers who have shaped Milan’s cultural, artistic, political and intellectual scene, with examples ranging from “Tabacco,” dedicated to Ludovico il Moro — Duke of Milan and patron of Leonardo da Vinci — and “Cuoio,” paying tribute to composer Giuseppe Verdi, to “Ultima Cena,” the olfactory homage to Leonardo da Vinci and his masterpiece “The Last Supper.” Each scent comes in a glass flacon with brass elements, including the engraved cap and a cameo of each personality, and is priced at 250 euros for the 100-ml. format.

While maintaining a genderless approach, the fragrance collection will evolve to pay tribute to female personalities that marked Milan’s history, teased Cantù. The move will wink to female customers who are drawn to Eredi Zucca and who are increasingly purchasing the brand for themselves rather than their partners.

Accounting for 20 percent of total sales, the home collection that includes candles, diffusors and air mists will be enhanced via capsule collections and special drops.

Starting in January, the company will also debut its range of amenities, developed with leading specialist La Bottega Collective, which will see the brand become the official partner of Orient Express, for one.

“This line will see us expanding in hospitality and hotellerie, but always in high-end locations and ways that are aligned with our positioning. We are not interested to be everywhere,” said Cantù.

Since taking the reins of the brand earlier this year, Cantù has spearheaded not only the product strategy but also the distribution. In 10 months, Eredi Zucca grew both through its direct presence — including a standalone barber shop in Milan and online store — and via wholesalers, with these channels accounting for 40 percent and 60 percent of total sales, respectively.

The wholesale footprint includes 30 doors in Italy in locations such as Antonia, flanked by a network of international destinations ranging from Crème de la Crème in the Balkans to Selfridges in the U.K., where Eredi Zucca set up a pop-up last month that was instrumental to further learn about customers’ demands, said Cantù.

“We’re stepping into the U.S. after a very grounded journey this year, when we consolidated our presence in Europe — starting from our strongest markets such as Italy and Germany — and the Middle East, which represents a key region for us in terms of positioning, quality and storytelling,” said Cantù.

In particular, the brand has partnered with Al Tayer Group on a rollout plan in the Middle East, where it is already available at the likes of Bloomingdale’s and Ounass. “At the moment this plan pivoted to mainly digital channels due to the situation in the area, but we will be meeting them there next month to discuss and develop the strategy for the physical channel, too,” said Cantù.

“Working within this global context is not simple; the greatest challenge today lies in adapting strategies to specific local circumstances,” he continued. “For us, the Middle East is a discovery but we know for a fact that it is poised to gain significant traction in the coming years. We are currently tailoring our strategy to the specific conditions across the Gulf, which does not mean putting things on hold, but rather adjusting our approach. The same applies to Asian markets, where today currency fluctuations are dampening the momentum that European brands might otherwise enjoy there.”

In early 2026, Cantù revealed plans to open a second stand-alone store in a European capital as part of his overarching goal to reach about eight locations in the midterm, but the move was eventually postponed.

“The real estate situation is very complex right now, especially in Europe, where there’s little turnover when it comes to spaces. And we’re manic about finding the right place. We have a sort of ‘hidden suite’ here in Milan and that’s what we’re looking for also elsewhere,” said Cantù, adding that there were “some openings in the pipeline that will almost certainly be pushed back to next year.”

The strategy is to open Eredi Zucca barber shops in key cities such as London, Paris, Dubai and New York, as well as smaller, product-only units or shops-in-shop in department stores. For example, Eredi Zucca recently unveiled a permanent corner at the Communité’s Galataport İstanbul location, which will be followed by another one in the Turkish retailer’s İstinyePark outpost next year.

Overall, the company’s wholesale footprint currently including 100 doors, which will stretch to 120 units by the end of the year. Cantù confirmed his previously reported goal of reaching 30 million euros in sales by 2029.

Launched in 2023, Eredi Zucca is one of the ventures in Davide De Giglio’s investment firm D Capital, which the Italian entrepreneur and businessman who cofounded New Guards Group created after exiting NGG in June 2023 — four years after the business was sold to Farfetch.

In addition to having a majority stake in Eredi Zucca, De Giglio was a cofounding investor in Isamaya Beauty and took a minority stake in Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in 2022. Most recently, D Capital made its first foray into fashion by acquiring a 55 percent stake in menswear brand Umit Benan. The portfolio also includes a luxury food extension with Volzhenka Caviar.

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