On Dec. 3, Massimo and Sabrina Bonini will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 39th annual FN Achievement Awards. Below is an article from the magazine’s Dec. 1 print issue about how they built their successful business and how they plan to evolve it in the years to come.
Intuition, eye for talent and business acumen are key ingredients for success. But they are all second to passion for Massimo and Sabrina Bonini, the masterminds behind Milan-based Massimo Bonini.
Since the late 1980s, passion has propelled the power couple, who have built a leading platform in the development and wholesaling of and handbags, collaborating with several major fashion houses and helping catapult emerging names into international stardom.
After more than three decades, the spark hasn’t dimmed, and the Boninis are embracing new challenges and evolving the business model that has fueled their success.
Their initial intuition, to bet on a specific segment, set the company apart from Day One. “We launched with our first office in Milan’s Montenapoleone in 1989. It was dedicated to accessories, which was anachronistic because this category wasn’t seen as it is today, it wasn’t so important for a look,” said Massimo Bonini. “We immediately positioned ourselves in this segment and stayed loyal to it because we grasped and really believed in the potential it could have had in the future.”
The Massimo Bonini headquarters on Via Manzoni in Milan.
Courtesy of Massimo Bonini
The opening was timed with the rise of the ready-to-wear movement in Milan, which put the city on the global map. But the Boninis knew there was more opportunity to uncover.
Since the very beginning, they looked outside national borders, traveling around the world to understand how different markets work, to meet and partner with retailers and kick-start the international expansion of their company. By 2016, the company’s presence stretched across offices in Milan, New York and Hong Kong.
But just before COVID-19, the Boninis felt the need to “change significantly, deepening our understanding of each market and further elevating the quality with prime partners,” Bonini explained. They revised their distribution footprint — further curating the selection of retailers they collaborated with — and closed the Hong Kong office to strengthen their commitment to Milan and New York.
The Boninis set up shop in the U.S. a decade ago, which paved the way to build strong relationships with both department stores and independents from across the country.
This year, the founders relocated to a bigger showroom on Madison Avenue to provide a fitting and customized showcase for its brand partners, which include Amina Muaddi, Herbert Levine, Moon Boot, Castañer, Benedetta Bruzziches, Carel and Missoni.
A look inside the Massimo Bonini showroom in New York.
George Chinsee/WWD
In turn, their partners applaud the couple’s many strengths.
“Sabrina and Massimo stand out for their integrity, long-term perspective and deep industry expertise,” said designer Amina Muaddi. “They understand what a founder-led luxury brand needs and support it with strategic clarity and respect for the craft. With decades of experience, they continue to be driven by the same passion and love for product that defined their early work. And above all, they remain exceptional humans — empathetic, spirited and truly a joy to collaborate with.”
Massimo Bonini now operates in more than 85 countries, collaborating with over 1,800 retailers. In addition to the showroom, sales and distribution activities, the firm’s services range from development, licensing and production to consulting and communication.
Sabrina Bonini reiterated how difficult it is to seduce consumers and how striking a balance between creativity and commercial viability is paramount. “Creativity for its own sake doesn’t resonate in this market: The creative’s vision is important because it has to excite you, but many other assets are needed beyond that, and now we have a full-fledged platform from production to distribution that can deliver a project its best,” she said.
As the Italian factory landscape continues to evolve, the couple is focusing on further building their production prowess.
In addition to working closely with key factories in Italy to offer bespoke solutions to its brands, the couple made their own acquisitions, recently taking over a plant in Italy’s footwear region of Marche and another one in Emilia-Romagna, “enabling us to develop the projects we have in mind,” said Massimo Bonini.
“Again, it’s all about passion,” he added. “I used to go to factories as a consultant and helped many of them. Now that we’ve embarked into the idea of making acquisitions and visit them frequently, you see how the product is made and how people work on it — that’s priceless.”
The Amina Muaddi showroom in Milan.
Courtesy of Massimo Bonini
Another evolutionary move came when the partners took an ownership stake in Herbert Levine to relaunch the iconic New York shoe brand under creative director Trevor Houston. And there could be similar moves on the horizon.
“It’s part of this strategy of further evolving the company and looking at the future in a different way,” said Bonini. “Now when we consider a brand, we look for a vision of a creative director — there has to be someone who understands the customer, who today is much more complex than before because she changes her mind and doesn’t have specific demands. With the production side, we can give full support to ideas and develop high-quality collections, which is much more complicated now … but to find a real vision, that’s hard, too.”
Arnaud de Lummen, founder and managing director of Luvanis, partnered with the Boninis to relaunch Herbert Levine.
He called them the “ideal” partners because they respect legacy but also look to the future.
“Massimo and Sabrina Bonini are true shoe experts: they understand craftsmanship, respect the soul of a historical house and have the intuition to anticipate shifts in the women’s luxury market before they happen,” Lummen said.
As they continue to expand their vision, the founders can rely on another asset, too. The couple’s passion for the job was so infectious that the next generation of Boninis felt instantly drawn to it: Their daughter Giorgia is leading the company in the U.S., while son Filippo carries the torch in Milan.
For 39 years, the annual FN Achievement Awards — often called the “Shoe Oscars” — have celebrated the style stars, best brand stories, ardent philanthropists, emerging talents and industry veterans. The 2025 event is supported by Caleres, Listrak, Nordstrom, Skechers, Vibram and Wolverine Worldwide.
