Le Silla Cofounder Monica Ciabattini Exits After 33 Years, Sells Parent Company Stake

Monica Ciabattini is leaving Le Silla after nearly 33 years and selling her shares in parent company Sicap S.r.l. The Italian footwear brand confirmed the move in a statement to media on Wednesday.

Ciabattini cofounded Le Silla in 1994 with her partner in life and business, Enio Silla. The company started in Sant'Elpidio a Mare, in the Marche region — Italy's historic footwear manufacturing district. She served as creative director and personally oversaw communications, marketing and style.

"For me, Le Silla has been much more than a business venture; it has been a significant part of my professional and personal life," Ciabattini said in the statement. She described her exit as "concluding her role" at the Sicap S.r.l.-owned brand.

Who takes over communications and marketing?

Ciabattini is "entrusting a significant part of the global communications and marketing activities" to her daughter, Giulia Silla. Giulia Silla has worked alongside Ciabattini for many years and has "embraced and interpreted the brand's values with sensitivity and expertise," the outgoing cofounder said.

The company credited Ciabattini with "guiding the brand's evolution with vision, sensitivity and dedication, playing an active part in shaping its image and defining its aesthetic language." It called her contribution over more than three decades an "integral part" of the brand's journey.

The statement did not name a successor for the creative director role. Nor did it disclose the value of the share sale or the buyer of Ciabattini's stake in Sicap S.r.l.

What retail footprint does the brand hold?

Since its 1994 founding, Le Silla has built a significant distribution network in Italy. The brand opened its first Milan store in 1999. It then expanded internationally through flagship stores in major capital cities worldwide.

Most recently, in September, Le Silla reopened its Via Sant'Andrea boutique during Milan Fashion Week. At the time, the brand said it has no immediate plans to open more stores, but identified Paris and London as priorities in its long-term international growth strategy.

Ciabattini said the decision to leave was "not an easy one."

"Thirty years of work cannot come to an end without emotion, as they carry with them the energy invested, complex decisions, sacrifices, achievements and a story of profound significance," she said. "For this very reason, I felt it was important for this transition to take place with clarity, respect and awareness, as the natural conclusion of an important chapter."

What does the handover mean for continuity?

The family-level succession keeps brand leadership inside the founding family while ownership consolidates under Sicap S.r.l. For supply-chain and wholesale partners, the immediate signal is continuity: the brand's Milan flagship reopened in September and its stated retail priorities — Paris and London — remain unchanged.

"Today, I see this decision not as a renunciation, but as the completion of a journey that has been meaningful, solid and valuable," Ciabattini said. "I leave the company at a moment of continuity, with confidence in the people who will guide its future, and with the peace of mind that comes from knowing I have made an authentic contribution to its creation and growth."

She framed the handover to her daughter as "both continuity and evolution, and carries a deeply personal meaning."

The company has not announced a date for Ciabattini's formal departure or further changes to the creative organization. Expect Sicap S.r.l. to clarify the ownership structure and any creative succession as the transition proceeds.