Jitrois opens first U.S. flagship

Jitrois, the luxury leather label that is a favorite of the likes of stars such as Heidi Klum and Elton John, opened its first flagship store yesterday on Madison Avenue. The store is an intimate 700-square-foot space located at 959 Madison Avenue, because, of course, what better place to put a luxury label than Madison Avenue. This year, the flagship is estimated to do sales of 2 million dollars, with projected sales of 3 million dollars for its second year, and 4 million dollars for its fourth year, according to CEO Gilbert Maria.

New York is just the first star on the map for them, however. The brand also has plans to open freestanding stores in Las Vegas, Miami, and Los Angeles. Their new NYC store is licensed to Annette Presley, a New Zealand entrepreneur an co-founder of Slingshot, one of her country's largest internet providers which she recently sold, and Jodi Shelton, founder and CEO of Shelton Group and Global Semiconductor Alliance. According to Jean-Claude Jitrois, the man behind the extremely luxurious label, the two women "completely bought into [his] philosophy."

The brand has a very unique aesthetic and take on leather, with items including carved leather dresses and perforated leather jackets. Jitrois' signature, though, is their heavily embellished leather items. One white leather jacket with embellishments of appliqued white roses where the petals are lined with red, blue, and yellow suede retails for over 13,000 dollars.

Luxury leather label Jitrois arrives in NYC

The opulent price tag is fairly standard for Jitrois. Several of his other pieces include a white dress with roses embroidered on the bodice for over 8000 dollars, and a black perforated leather jacket for close to 6000 dollars. The average Jitrois collection will contain over 280 items (and we thought Karl Lagerfeld sent a lot of clothes down the runway every season.)

While one of Jitrois's pieces may cost as much as a used Japanese imported automobile, they are certainly worth it. These are the kind of pieces that stay in your life forever that your children can inherit. He only uses the finest quality leather in the world from lambs raised in what he calls the "proper environment." For a man whose designs are worn by Lady Gaga and Carla Bruni no level of glamour and flawless execution is to be spared, so, perhaps you should start saving up for that Jitrois jacket now?