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Slowear opens first New York store in Soho

By Kristopher Fraser

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Retail

Venice-based luxury men's wear manufacturer Slowear has arrived in New York City, in Soho to be precise. Over the past eight years the company has opened 22 stores around the globe in major cities such as Paris and Tokyo, and now they have finally arrived to the fashion capital of America. Of the 22 stores, ten are owned by the company and the rest are franchised.

Directly owned retail represents about 15 percent of Slowear's sales, which were 58.5 million dollars last year. Over the next five years they plan to increase those numbers by 50 percent. On September 14, Slowear will host an event during NYFW to commemorate the opening of their first U.S. store at 116 Prince Street.

While the story carries multiple apparel brands, they are all owned and operated by Slowear. The bread and butter of their business is Incotex trousers which accounts for 40 percent of Slowear's overall sales, and 70 percent of their wholesale business. Over the past decade, the company has acquired other brands including Zanone Knitwear, Glanshirt shirtmakers, and Montedoro outerwear.

Slowear opens Soho store on Prince Street

All those brands will be represented in the new Soho store, along with a series of products under the Officina Slowear banner, an initiative the company hosts in Venice to support artisanal producers of leather goods, shoes, and jewelry. Slowear began to heavily place their focus on retail ten years ago when they left the private-label business. When they made the decision to stop producing for brands such as Ermenegildo Zegna and Burberry their profits took a hit.

In our most successful years, we used to generate 35 million euros [39 million dollar] through licensees and between 30 million and 25 million euros [34 million dollar 28 million dollar] with our own brands,” Roberto Compagno, Slowear's CEO, told WWD. “We still don’t have the same volume, but we are on the right path. We have to continue pushing the wholesale business and focus on the international markets.”

Japan is currently the company's largest market, with Italy running second, and the U.S. accounting for 15 percent of their business with their products being carried in 180 doors including Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Slowear has been in America for 18 years with their wholesale partners, so, they will already have a customer who knows them very well. Going forward, the company is hoping to open three stores per year.

Photo:thefwa.com

Slowear