Paco Rabanne signals big ambitions with New Avenue Montaigne bullet train – WWD

PARIS – Paco Rabanne opened a flagship on Avenue Montaigne in Paris, signaling the parent company PuigThe ambition of this brand, the goal of reaching 1 billion euros in sales by 2025.

While most of that money will be generated by the label’s fragrances, including bestsellers like the XS and 1 Million, its fashion division has flourished and opened sales. online in China with the opening of a digital electronics store on AlibabaTmall Luxury Pavilion.

Fueled by creative director Julien Dossena’s popular online shows during the shutdown, the label’s fashion sales are expected to grow 20% in 2021 compared to 2019. , after a 200% increase from 2018 to 2019.

When Puig Not providing revenue for individual brands, the Spanish fashion and beauty company ended 2020 with a net loss of 70 million euros, compared with a profit of 226 million euros in 2019. It aims to surpasses 3 billion euros in aggregate revenue in 2023 and reaches 4.5 billion euros in 2025, compared with 1.54 billion euros in 2020.

With a store at 39 Avenue Montaigne, Rabanne is crossing the threshold. The 1,650-square-foot store, across from fashionable eatery L’Avenue, a celebrity favorite and across from Dior’s historic flagship, is expected to reopen in two years soon. Renovations.

Bastien Daguzan, general manager of fashion house Paco Rabanne, told WWD: “This is about reviving the brand’s credentials and giving it the retail showcase it deserves. “It’s a great location in terms of traffic, a great opportunity for us and also a strong signal to the industry, because we’re in the midst of incredible brands.”

While the goal is for the store to be profitable within three years, it will also play an important role in driving e-commerce sales, which account for 60% of fashion sales in Rabanne. This number far exceeds the average of the luxury sector, estimated at 22 percent by 2021, according to consulting firm Bain & Co.

Rabanne inherited the store from fellow Puig brand Nina Ricci, opening the location in 1979 and Closed in April as part of a pivot to digital-first strategy. While Rabanne has lower prices than its high-street neighbors, Daguzan believes the strategy fits with the iconic history of the Space Age brand.

“The opening of Paco Rabanne on Avenue Montaigne, with our positioning, is another way to challenge the norms of the industry,” he said.

The flagship is designed to be less conceptual and more experiential than its existing store on Rue Cambon. Designed by the in-house team, the 1970s-style interior contrasts silver accents with soothing colors, like terracotta rugs and a custom island of butterscotch resin and designer marble Award-winning Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis.

A room dedicated to heritage styles, with racks featuring the brand’s signature 1969 chained handbags and mannequins showcasing classic looks, including a mini dress made from aluminum panels, from the spring 1967 haute couture collection, similar to the one worn by French singer Françoise famously Tough.

Meanwhile, a screening room in the back allows visitors to sit in a truncated classic Jaguar while surrounded by images from the fall 2021 “Time Out” campaign film starring of the French actress Adèle Exarchopoulos.

The store will stock a variety of collections, activations, and exclusives, such as the 1969 gradient bags, which look like they’ve been spray-painted. It carries Dossena’s capsule line with Japanese graphic designer Tsunehisa Kimura, which will pave the way in January for a collection created from the fortune of Op Art pioneer Victor Vasarely.

The brand has taken advantage of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic to reduce its cadence to two collections per year, as of the pre-collection season in January and June.

Its ready-to-wear is divided into four pillars: iconic looks, like the sequined disc-chain glitter dress, with prices ranging from 990 euros to 3,500 euros; runway collection, including more avant-garde designs by Dossena; Active and wearable clothing, its main commercial collection, is priced from 290 euros to 1,290 euros.

“Today, it is important to have a brand with a single creative backbone that specific lines can revolve around. We’re thinking about maybe repositioning dynamic skins, because it’s complementary, but maybe it can exist on its own,” said Daguzan.

Rabanne is also considering whether to turn the store in Rue Cambon into a specialty store. Meanwhile, it has moved the short-lived Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré store, opening in 2020, to another Puig-owned brand, Carolina Herrera.

Daguzan doesn’t anticipate opening more physical stores anytime soon, preferring to focus on the brand’s wholesale network, which generates more than half of its online sales. Rabanne has 350 points of sale worldwide, including about 15 stores in department stores.

Likewise, any return of reality runway shows must first cater to an online audience. “It must be conveyed, seen and understood by consumers simultaneously with the press. Today, this is one of the fundamentals of creating a show,” says Daguzan.

Despite the brand’s strong digital focus, it’s a bet that the Avenue Montaigne store will be a magnet for customers looking for the kind of glamorous evening wear that Dossena showcases in the show. my fall 2021 collection. It’s a playful brand to hang out with, says Daguzan. “As soon as the ban was lifted, sales skyrocketed.”

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