The Tamesis
Marni CEO Stefano Rosso has appointed Meryll Rogge as creative director amid an industry-wide creative shakeup. For a first-time designer, it’s easy to get lost in the noise. But that didn’t happen to Roger. Her first runway collection for the 32-year-old OTB-owned brand received critical acclaim, including: fashion showtrue to the aesthetics of founder Consuelo Castiglioni, while marking the beginning of a new chapter in 2026 and beyond.
exist fashion business Meryll Rogge and Stefano Rosso discussed Marni’s next era at the Global Summit in Chantilly, France earlier this month.
Fashion: Let’s start with what my colleague Tiziana Cardini said about your debut. She writes, “When Marni comes back into women’s hands, karma-wise, it feels like the universe is sorting itself out.” Meryll, what do you think are the pros and cons of being a female designer?
Merrill: Start with a difficult question [laughs]. I think what’s important in our case is that the founder of the brand is a woman, and from what I understand, the brand actually grew out of a feeling of wanting to design for myself.
Stefano: For us, talent knows no gender. Talent is talent and we are always looking for the best talent to lead Marni into its next creative chapter and we believe Meryll has what it takes to make this happen. The fact that she is a woman is probably an added value because we really want to focus on this new period and bring back attention and focus to women’s ready-to-wear, which has been causing some difficulties for the company over the past few years. So it was a natural choice, but mostly because we recognized Merrill’s amazing creativity.
Fashion:Meryll, I want the audience to hear about your first paycheck at your first big job in fashion. You bought something that might show how this new job was meant to be. Can you tell us what that is?
Merrill: It’s true. In 2008, I started my career at Marc Jacobs in New York. With my first paycheck, instead of paying the rent that was due, I went straight to a store uptown and bought a pair of Marni shoes that I had been eyeing for months. So this was the first purchase I made with my first paycheck.
Fashion: So, it seems like this job was meant to be, and I felt that way when I was with you in the Marni showroom a few days before the show. You chose key moments from Consuelo Castiglioni’s early collections, and people noticed the connection you made between Marni then and Marni now. When it comes to the way forward, do you think archives will always play an important role? How do you plan to use them?
Merrill: We are interested in starting from the spirit of Marni: what is the meaning of the brand, what are the values of the brand, and how can we move the brand forward in a new environment and a new world. I think what we really focus on is the value system, even more so than the actual archive, although archives will always play a role.
Fashion: Stefano, can you talk about Marni’s values?
Stefano: Two words: modern elegance. We very much believe in having a point that’s a little out of bounds. In fact, in our brand book we have a quintessential phrase, “color beyond the lines”, which I firmly believe perfectly represents the essence of Marni.
