Autry names Golden Goose veteran Danilo Piarulli as CEO to drive international push

Autry has appointed Danilo Piarulli as chief executive, filling a role that had stood vacant for two years, the Italian footwear brand confirmed. Piarulli joins with immediate effect from Golden Goose, the Italian luxury footwear and apparel brand founded in 2000, where he spent 13 years.

At Golden Goose he held roles of increasing responsibility, serving as chief financial officer before becoming chief consumer officer with a seat on the board. Before fashion, Piarulli worked in finance at PwC and then at Geox, another Italian footwear name, ahead of his move to Golden Goose.

The appointment comes from Style Capital, the private equity fund that took a majority stake in Autry in 2024 and has since accelerated its expansion. Roberta Benaglia, Style Capital's chief executive and Autry's chairwoman, called the hire a natural evolution of the company's structure.

Benaglia pointed to Piarulli's record turning a sneaker label into a global business, and singled out his understanding of the premium lifestyle fashion market as instrumental to Autry's next steps. She said he combines strategic vision with an operational focus on process, people and disciplined growth.

Piarulli's task is explicit: shift Autry from a product-driven company into what he calls a true brand. He told WWD the goal is to build a lifestyle that speaks to specific consumer segments and communities the company can be relevant to.

He added that the company's real competition is not another fashion label but a fancy dinner or a day at a spa, and that capturing consumers means developing themes that are relevant and enduring rather than running a merchandising exercise.

What the numbers show

Autry logged sales of 150 million euros in 2025. Under Piarulli, the brand is targeting annual growth of 10 to 15 percent through 2029, which it says will be driven by expansion of its direct-to-consumer channels.

Those channels, spanning retail and e-commerce, currently make up 34 percent of total sales, and Piarulli plans to bring that mix into balance with wholesale within two to three years. Autry is currently sold at about 1,000 retailers worldwide.

Where the expansion is heading

Autry has opened 12 flagships and shops-in-shop over the past two years, all since Style Capital's takeover, including sites in Milan, two in Paris, Cannes and London. New openings are planned in Rome, Venice, a second Milan store and Munich, Autry's third-largest market.

In the United States, direct retail is a short-term priority alongside an expanded wholesale presence; Autry currently counts 50 partners there, with talks under way with major department stores. Piarulli named New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Dallas as primary retail targets.

Dallas carries particular weight: Autry was founded in the 1980s by Jim Autry in Texas. The US already generates 10 to 15 percent of Autry's global online sales, which Piarulli reads as evidence the ground is fertile for physical stores.

Asia is high on Piarulli's agenda too, helped by Autry's tie-up with Stray Kids member Changbin, the brand's first global ambassador, on a capsule collection and dedicated events. Autry already trades at Lotte, Galleria and Shinsegae stores in South Korea and at Isetan and Takashimaya in Japan.

Piarulli said Autry needs a selective distribution strategy, recognising that certain markets respond better to specific parts of the assortment, with exclusive drops and tie-ups tailored by geography and channel rather than a single global rollout.

The product bet behind the growth

Piarulli argues Autry is in a protected segment: luxury players have little interest in entering it and sporting goods companies face an inherent price cap, leaving room for a brand with what he calls a creatively solid product and an attractive price point.

He still sees scope to broaden the merchandising mix, including a fully styled ready-to-wear offering he expects to resonate with women. Sales currently split evenly by gender, and Piarulli expects both to grow 10 percent annually, partly by lifting Autry's currently underdeveloped appeal among Gen Z shoppers.

The brand has already broadened its range with Action, a performance-aimed product vertical, and several capsule collections launched over the past two years, alongside the marketing push that brought Changbin on board as its first global ambassador.

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Images: Courtesy of Autry