The retail growth has now hit at Milan, where its first French flagship has silently opened on the exclusive Via Sant’Andrea, a couple of steps far from Via Montenapoleone. Concept has it Tisci and Givenchy are organizing a meeting during Milan Fashion-Week this month to mark the newest outpost.
Givenchy approach will be to carefully assess locations and the countries where we seek to get awareness through our profile,” said chief executive officer Philippe Fortunato. “We ensure that our store matches its surroundings and vice versa to be able to produce the company messages that are proper and are targeted within our evaluation. This plan entails that people regularly assess our existing retailers and make sure that they remain in stage with adjustments in their own venues. A typical example of this is renovation of our men’s store on Rue François 1er in Paris.”
The business has established Italy and the U.K. with its places. “These are two of Europe’s most important trend facilities with remarkably style-conscious citizen communities. They’ve a brief history of development and creativity management while attracting tourists from around the globe,” defined Fortunato. In addition to the Milan flagship Givenchy plans to incorporate the brand’s first unit in London at the start of 2017.
“While we are a French house, Italy is a very important market to us, not only in terms of its international reputation for high fashion but most importantly, emotionally, as it is the birthplace of our artistic director Riccardo Tisci,” the ceo said.
Discussing rumors about a pending opening in Rome, he said, “We have just opened our flagship in Milan and, while the first results are encouraging, it is too early to talk about another boutique in Rome. Every store opening is different and needs to match its environment so we would need to consider what Givenchy could bring to Rome and what Rome could bring to us. Another opening in Italy may seem logical, but we do not believe in being constrained by what is logical and expected. Our next move will be dictated by the creativity of our house and the voice of our customers.”
At the same time, Fortunato defined the U.S. as “one of the largest luxury markets in the world,” offering “outstanding growth potential.” To wit, in addition to the new flagship that opened in New York’s Madison Avenue last month, Givenchy recently opened shops-in-shop at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York and Miami alongside a directly operated store in Miami’s design district.
Fortunato said Givenchy’s retail division “has become increasingly important” and that its directly operated store network has seen double-digit growth over the past three years. “I expect to see equal sales across wholesale and retail by the end of 2015,” observed Fortunato.
The Milan flagship, which carries men’s and women’s apparel and accessories as well as eyewear, is an additional step in the brand’s strategy of creating tailor-made boutiques.
The sophisticated street suits the intimate mood of the venue, located in a stately and bourgeois Milanese palazzo. Covering 4,320 square feet and with three windows fronting the street, the store is reminiscent of an art gallery and features a number of small rooms, each different – for example, one showing green tiles, another, white ones. In sync with Tisci’s propensity for pure, sweeping lines, the products are displayed against a minimalist yet bold backdrop.