Silvio Campara’s ‘Madonnina’

Silvio Campara, CEO of Golden Goose, says that people today do not want to buy a ‘product’, but rather to feel part of a process of individual creation – a form of ‘entertainment’ in which they can actively participate – and, at the same time, a collective process of ‘sharing values’. In short, today’s average customer is willing to swipe their credit card not only for goods, but above all for those moments of leisure and social interaction commonly referred to as ‘experiences’, which make them feel important both as an individual – and how could it be otherwise in an age when teenagers attack teachers live on air and then count their ‘likes’ – and as a member of an interesting and, if possible, cool community, which, to put it simply, means absolutely brilliant.

This interview, which has been ongoing for some time—to the extent that I have even had the opportunity to verify, at the latest Milan fashion shows, just how accurate Campara’s theories are on many topics, for example on the commercial and social value of nostalgia and the reconciliation between generations through music and cinema – which has, in fact, become the theme of discussion in this issue – and so thank you so much, because without his prompting I would have viewed certain fashion shows in a different light. It came about during the ‘Land of Plenty’-style celebration organised by the Cerea family in mid-July to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the family business, ‘Da Vittorio’ at the Cantalupa estate, just outside Bergamo: among the thousands of guests—so many, in fact, that I spotted someone I would have been delighted to meet just three days later, in the photos from the evening—at one point Campara appeared from down a path, wearing a tracksuit and, of course, trainers with the little star.

Three days later, we were sitting at our respective computers: the CEO of the sneaker brand with the star – now a ‘love brand’ recognised on a par with Nutella – with the Golden Goose people panel behind him, a photographic symbol of that ‘sharing of projects’ which has also led to joint or, indeed, community-based decisions (‘no named architect; the interiors are the work of the creative department”) for the Milanese spaces opened last year on Via Ercole Marelli, between Prada and Moncler. ‘The universe of Golden Goose values’ called for the inclusion of a golden wall evoking Kyoto’s Golden Temple, a pool table, a floor studded with 6,300 tiny Carrara marble stars paying homage to the technique of Venetian terrazzo and the mosaics of the Olivetti shops in Venice, counters fashioned from the shelving of the first shop, as well as a faithful reproduction of the Madonnina from Milan Cathedral, mounted on a column in a prominent corner of the courtyard. Campara, a former AGESCI scout who considers it ‘a great blessing to have experienced the spiritual side of scouting, as well as its practical aspects and communion with nature’, is well on his way to becoming a guru in the sector. He believes that, in his case, the acronym ‘CEO’ stands for ‘Chief Emotional Officer’, suggesting, in short, that in the company’s business, thethe bottom line comes after many other values – which is a wonderful philosophy and a winning strategy, provided we do not forget that over the last fifteen years, Golden Goose has also made giant strides through a meticulously planned strategy of transfers from one fund to another (the latest transfer is scheduled for December 2025), which Campara has steered with the same skill he probably displayed as a young boy when jumping over logs.

No one remembers Golden Goose before him; he joined the company in 2013 as chief commercial officer following its acquisition by Style Capital, alongside Roberta Benaglia (who, a few days ago, appointed Autry’s second-in-command). And yet, the company that is now held up as a model of ‘Made in Italy’ integration had been founded over a decade before his appointment in Marghera, in the classic ‘garage-office’ set-up, by Alessandro Gallo and Francesca Rinaldo, The pair, small business owners from the Veneto region with a brilliant idea and a clear flair for naming—because one must admit that ‘L’Oca d’Oro’ is not just a beautiful Russian fairy tale, but also a splendid name for a boho-chic luxury clothing line—originally did not produce trainers at all, but upcycled garments, that is, items created by reworking vintage clothing. In 2004, cowboy-style boots arrived on the scene, followed three years later by distressed-look trainers – a brilliant idea borrowed from the US. But the business was growing too slowly; 30 million in this sector is a drop in the ocean in a market that was becoming increasingly competitive. And so, along came Style Capital, which acquired a majority stake in 2013, bringing structure, financial leverage and a highly ambitious manager to a company that was still family-run. Two years later, having multiplied the company’s value with the opening of its first flagship stores, the majority stake passed to a group of investors linked to Ergon Capital. In February 2017, Marco De Benedetti arrived with Carlyle, which acquired all the shares, before handing control to Permira in February 2020. The latest change of ownership took place in December 2025 and was finalised last June, by which time there were almost two hundred shops worldwide, spread across twenty-three countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, and the company had two production centres: one in Casarano, in the province of Lecce – a hub for trainers – and the other in Sirio, near Caserta: the majority stake was sold for approximately 2.5 billion euros to HongShan Capital Group (HSG), a Chinese venture capital and private equity firm, whilst Temasek and its subsidiary, True Light Capital, each acquired a minority stake. Turnover reached 734 million euros in the 2025 financial year, and the current year is once again seeing double-digit growth. Campara, a former model and Bocconi graduate who began his career at McQueen and Giorgio Armani, has reinvested at every change of ownership; he is not just the manager of the moment – he has also become a wealthy man. Last summer, the boutique on Via Camerelle was virtually the only one constantly crowded with customers who were ‘personalising’ their trainers around a workbench. The general in the particular, the community in individualism, the customer who pays to work alongside one of the brand’s creatives, feeling part of a project. As they would say in France, y a du génie en cela.

Campara smiles. “The idea of community is as old as humanity itself, but although it has faded over the millennia – losing, at least in the West, its political and religious inspiration – its basic premise, which is the sharing of values, has remained intact. Communities evolve, but their dynamics do not change; therefore, the question to ask today is what values unite people. There is an exogenous one, represented by the failures of other unifying forces, such as politics and religion – and here,” he points out, “we could open another chapter, because uprooting two thousand years of Christianity in the name of a vague secularism was a choice made by a few, the effects of which we see today in this society built on rights rather than duties. Then there is an endogenous value, inherent to humanity itself, which is the need to draw closer to a higher dimension.” Campara believes that the line between a value and spirituality is very fine, and that addressing these needs is the true and ultimate reason for the brand’s success. “Golden stems from a very simple idea: we are imperfect beings, who spend our lives trying to improve ourselves in a society that judges us by our performance and the number of ‘likes’ we receive, thereby generating anxiety.” The brand’s star – incomplete, broken – is therefore “a symbol of each of our lives: a simple shape whose empathetic significance lies in its imperfection. In a society where you feel nothing but the pressure of judgement, being able to offer a tool that conveys positivity and love strikes me as a beautiful message”.

When we began this conversation months ago at a conference in Milan, Campara had just told a bewildered and uncertain audience of CEOs that ‘communities are not all the same’ and that simply forming a group or creating one is not enough to gain recognition, whether intangible or financial. He reiterates this now: “Whereas once the need was to secure the approval of a social enclave – and this approval was gained through the display of certain uniforms, such as the ‘paninaro’, the punk or the hippie, whom fashion had to supply with new products – with the advent of social media, this dynamic has fragmented and the relationship between producers and consumers has become direct. But the even more interesting aspect,” he says, “is the evolution of the decision-making process: until now, right up to our time, the consumer could only choose but never decide.” Golden Goose, he points out, “has changed things”.

To tell the truth, it hasn’t always been this way: up until the Second World War, tailors, weavers, customers and often milliners collaborated on the creation of every single garment. Ready-to-wear clothing was a second choice. Over the past century, the process has accelerated and become distorted. Moreover, a range of induced demands and needs has constantly altered our relationship with our bodies—and, consequently, with clothing.

“The greatest thing missing in today’s world is happiness. We are inundated with negative news; we are judged everywhere – especially on social media – on our physical appearance, our abilities and our performance: we are never good enough. Granted, we sell trainers and clothing, but we try to create fashion with people, not just for them, encouraging those who enter our shops to become ‘consumer-creators’ of their own consumption. Because that’s how it’s been on social media for years.”

The logic behind the large workstations where people design their own trainers, in short, arose from observing the more or less professional content created by millions of people. “I said to myself: if they’re creating their own content today, one day they’ll want to make their own products.”