MILAN — The Thom Browne label will mark two decades in business next year and it is approaching this milestone full steam ahead.
In 2021, revenues climbed 47 percent to 263 million euros and, compared with 2019, they soared 64 percent.
This impressive growth was fueled by gains in every channel, geography and product line in the men’s and women’s categories, but chief executive officer Rodrigo Bazan credits this growing success to Browne’s original idea, his “unique and recognizable tailoring, which he modernized with incredible strength, with a sportswear attitude and looks that can be easily mixed and matched.”
Also, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a “more simplified world that values a clear message and quality even more — and getting out of those sweatpants,” he said with a smile.
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The brand has been increasingly attracting a loyal female customer, he pointed out. So much so that, despite the pandemic, the company opened a women’s boutique in London and one in Milan last fall, where Bazan met with WWD.
Located on the luxury shopping street Via Sant’Andrea, a few steps away from Via Montenapoleone, the 1,700-square-foot, two-level store was once again designed by Browne in collaboration with architect Flavio Albanese of ASA Studio Albanese. (The men’s store in Milan’s Via Gesù remains open.)
Behind the brand’s signature Venetian blind-covered windows, realized for this store in mahogany wood, the interior is minimalist and inspired by Georgian architecture, with polished white terrazzo flooring, gray plaster walls and white boiserie. Lighting comes in the form of Holophane glass pendant streetlight fixtures from Paris circa the 1950s.
Midcentury furniture by American and French designers — including Dunbar by Edward Wormley, Paul McCobb, Jacques Adnet, Pierre Jeanneret and George Nakashima — features throughout.
The first women’s collection was presented during New York Fashion Week in 2011 and Browne began show it in Paris in 2017. “That was a big bet and a challenge, but it was meant to elevate its visibility. Thom has always had a very clear vision for both divisions, developing womenswear steadily with tailoring as a foundation in parallel with his men’s collections, with a similar creativity, but distinctive and sometimes even genderless,” Bazan said.
Menswear continues to account for the lion’s share of business, representing 72 percent of sales, and women’s accounts for the remaining 28 percent, but Bazan underscored the “healthy development for the long-term” of the latter category. “We are very happy, Thom Browne is now recognized as both a men’s and women’s label.”
Bazan, who joined the company in the spring of 2016 from Alexander Wang and previously held executive roles at Marc Jacobs and Alexander McQueen, was upbeat about a “business that is beginning to balance out well between men’s and women’s, ready-to-wear, bags and shoes, retail and wholesale.”
Last year, group wholesale revenues rose 32 percent to 125 million euros thanks mainly to the Europe, Middle East and Africa region as well as the Asia Pacific area.
The brand is available in more than 350 wholesale accounts globally, from leading department stores to specialty boutique doors across 40 countries.
“There’s great value in working with multibrand stores — the best around the world — they are magnificent curators, they know the product, know what they are doing and have an incredible eye,” the executive explained. “They offer us visibility and we never push in terms of volumes. We want to be well-represented.”
Strong momentum led to a 127 percent jump in retail sales compared to 2019, significantly exceeding store footprint expansion. Retail outperformed wholesale reflecting a strategic focus on brand equity and an increasingly selective approach to wholesale distribution — just as it did at the brand’s parent company, the Zegna Group, which took a majority stake in Thom Browne in 2018.
There are 52 directly operated retail stores and 38 wholesale franchised units in key cities such as New York, London, Milan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Seoul.
Last year, the company opened stores in Singapore and Taiwan.
Bazan proudly pointed out that there were only 14 boutiques in 2016 and that all units today are profitable.
He expressed confidence in China this year, recently seeing only a few disruptions caused by the pandemic in the region. The brand’s presence was further boosted in October with the launch of an official online flagship store on Tmall.
Bazan said the company was planning new store openings in Asia, while strengthening its presence in Europe and the U.S. “There is growth potential for the brand, both in terms of retail and online and we have a very strong relationship with e-tailers,” said the executive, once again touting an increased interest in the women’s category. “We’ve seen an outstanding growth in our direct-to-consumer, a very strong trend in North America and the brand is healthy across the board.”
Farfetch has been the company’s technological partner for the past five years, he noted.
Thom Browne has organically become a hit with many celebrities from K-pop stars to LeBron James and Cardi B, to name a few, and in the sports arena, given the designer’s sports-related projects and his partnership with the FC Barcelona soccer club. However, Bazan underscored that nobody is ever paid to wear the brand. “We create relationships with people who appreciate the label.”
While the brand expands globally and in more categories, customer loyalty remains key, said Bazan, for whom long-term development is a mantra.
Loyalty is also a must when it comes to employees and the company’s supply chain, too. “We continue to operate with a start-up mentality, whatever our sales figures. We went through difficult moments during the pandemic, but there were no pay cuts or layoffs, we negotiated with landlords to open stores and never slashed orders, working with our supply chain,” he underscored.
The company has more than 450 employees.
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There is only one license, for eyewear with Dita Eyewear Inc. as fragrances are produced internally and exclusively available at Thom Browne stores.
Asked about the impact of Zegna’s public listing in New York last December, Bazan downplayed the changes on the Thom Browne company, claiming that the nuts and bolts of the road to Wall Street fell more on chairman Gildo Zegna’s lap. Rather, he emphasized the importance of having become part of the Italian group in the first place.
“Zegna is a fantastic, great shareholder, they understand and respect Thom and what he’s done and, even if they are not into the womenswear business, they understand the product and they are such experts in terms of fabrics. While different, Gildo and Thom understand and respect each other.”
The same can be said of Bazan and Browne. As in many professional power couples, a strong collaboration between the yin and yang of creative talent and business savvy contributes to solid growth.
“We work so well together and there is such a beautiful culture and passion within the company and the team and it all starts from Thom,” Bazan offered. “He is very intelligent. In this industry where you are cool one day and the next you are not, where you may be growing too much or too little, we respect each other’s vision, we have total confidence in one another and we challenge each other. We talk about strategic choices and about growth while protecting the brand. Everything is pro-brand.”