CLEAR VISION: In turbulent times, companies big and small need a sharper focus more than ever.

That’s why Italian entrepreneur and Persol creative director Riccardo Pozzoli is launching Hyle, a Milan-based advisory firm.

“After eight years on different individual advisory projects and in venture capital, I realized it would be very interesting to start connecting the dots between brands, different industries and different companies,” he told WWD. “I can help them really fine tune all the potential that they have in their hands and exploit it to its fullest potential.”

The new company, incorporated in January and being publicized as of this month, offers a range of services covering brand and growth strategies, from full-service branding, experience marketing and content creation to finding new distribution models and collaborations.

Hyle’s portfolio currently includes Italian luxury urban-activewear label Sease, cofounded by Franco and Giacomo Loro Piana; Icon Yachts, a shipyard which specializes in refitting old service vessels into high-end explorer and purpose boats; and Junkers, an aircraft company revived by Dieter Morszeck, the former chief executive officer of Rimowa.

These varied profiles are part of his plan for Hyle.

“My idea is not really to get specialized in one industry, but mostly to get specialized in a type of customer,” he told WWD.  

That profile is “a sophisticated customer in terms of the experiences that this customer wants to live while buying products and services,” be it in hospitality, retail or entertainment, he added.  

And Pozzoli certainly has practice at what he preaches.

This graduate of Milan’s Università Bocconi in economics, finance and marketing management made a name for himself over the last decade for his involvement in a range of ventures from fashion to food.

He was an investor and adviser to mobile social shopping app Depop prior to its sale to online marketplace Etsy and began advising EssilorLuxottica’s social media and PR team in 2019.

In 2021, the eyewear giant tapped Pozzoli as brand director for 108-year-old Persol. He evolved toward his current creative role in 2024, a position he will retain in parallel to Hyle.