Coach opens first store in Italy

Coach continues to expand at all latitudes. The US 'contemporary luxury' leather goods label, so it likes to define itself, has made its first retail investment in Italy, opening a store in Milan. The 150 m2 shop on two levels, linked by an all-glass lift, was inaugurated on Tuesday night. It is located in Milan's central luxury district, at 19 Via Montenapoleone, at premises formerly occupied by footwear label A. Testoni.

The interior design is by Coach's Creative Director Stuart Vevers, in collaboration with William Sofield, designer and President of Studio Sofield. The interiors blend the past with the present, combining seamlessly the label's contemporary style with the building's historic architecture.

The concrete, pink granite and terracotta walls, the soft lighting, woollen rugs and leather and shearling chairs create an ambience that is both cosy and cool, with a selection of 1950s design objects adding a vibrant touch.

In the store, Coach is emphasising its artisanal savvy with the 'Craftsmanship bar', offering leather care services and a workshop for printing monograms. The store showcases a selection from the label's women's ready-to-wear collection, as well as a wide range of bags and accessories for men and women.

After Paris in 2015, the Milan store opening follows in the wake of Coach's Regent Street one in London and of the label's New York flagship store, inaugurated last December on Fifth Avenue. From July 2016, Coach operates more than 450 stores in North America, about 520 in Asia and 40 in Europe. In 2017, it is also set to open its first store in a French shopping mall, at the Terrasses du Port mall in Marseilles.

In the last few years, Coach has gone upmarket and broadened its product range, diversifying into clothing. It launched its women's ready-to-wear collection with the winter 2014-15 season, showing in New York. The following year it was the turn of the label's first menswear collection, for winter 2015-16, introduced on the London catwalks.

In the 2015-16 fiscal year, closed last July, Coach recorded a revenue of $4.147 billion (€3.946 billion), 53% of which was generated with women's handbags.

Coach opens first store in Italy

See also