MILAN — Italian jewelry house Pasquale Bruni is betting big on the American market.
Already distributed by retailers including Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s and, since last year, Saks Fifth Avenue, the brand has now launched on Moda Operandi.
“We will be featured also in the e-tailer’s trunk show section with limited edition pieces realized exclusively for the platform,” said Daniele Bruni, president for the company’s U.S. subsidiary.
Bruni said the company already implements a similar approach in Russia, releasing pieces exclusively designed for the local market. “But also in the U.S., we have been doing some special collections because each market has its taste and peculiarity and we will try to do the same with Moda Operandi as soon as we know the customer a little bit more,” the executive said.
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In the brick-and-mortar environment, the company is available at 50 doors in the U.S. — 14 of which were opened in the past year — in addition to its own e-commerce, which was launched during the pandemic and has been performing beyond expectations, according to Bruni.
Although the executive declined to provide figures in value, he said overall the brand’s sales in the U.S. in the first 11 months of the year increased 83.8 percent compared to last year and 7.3 percent versus 2019. Incidentally, on a global scale Pasquale Bruni revenues recorded a 15 percent increase as of the end of November compared to the same period in 2019 and an 81 percent growth compared to 2020.
Bruni credited the brand’s creative director Eugenia Bruni and her feminine designs for the success of the brand in the U.S., underscoring that local customers “see immediately that the pieces are designed by a woman and that there’s a particular attention behind it. It’s not classic jewelry, the design is very contemporary and very Italian, too.”
Established in 1968 in Valenza, the heart of Italy’s high-end jewelry manufacturing district, the company is known for its precious creations nodding to natural elements encompassing flowers, leaves and butterflies, all rendered in feminine and sinuous shapes.
In particular, the best-performing collections in the U.S. include Bon Ton, which is defined by the brand’s signature five-petal flower motif crafted from gems such as rose, smoky and milky quartz or blue topaz, and Giardini Segreti, which reinterprets the floral theme with diamond pavé techniques. While the former line retails with prices ranging from $1,500 for a bracelet up to $18,600 for a necklace style, the latter collection is priced between $2,000 and $72,700, with the bestselling ring of the lineup retailing at $11,200.
Although the company doesn’t address a specific demographic target, in terms of geographies, the most significant increase in sales was registered in Florida.
“That’s probably due to the restrictions that were a little bit different compared to other states in the U.S. and the fact that we have a more concentrated distribution there.…Plus it’s a very good market for jewelry in general,” Bruni noted.
Also for this reason, the company is eyeing to open its first flagship store in Miami in 2024, followed by a unit in New York, where the American subsidiary is headquartered.
“In general, there’s definitely still room for expansion but we try to be very selective in terms of distribution, we don’t want to open too many doors either,” Bruni said.
While the U.S. is the third market for the company at the moment, after Russia and Italy, the executive aims to turn it into the biggest one in two to three years.
Bruni plans to achieve such a goal also with a little help of some prominent names. The brand awareness in the U.S. has been growing also through the endorsement of an array of personalities, ranging from former first lady Michelle Obama to Lady Gaga, who were seen at public events sporting iconic pieces of the label.
The connection with the world of cinema and entertainment will be further cemented with Pasquale Bruni’s first collaboration with a movie production. The brand will be the official jewelry partner of the upcoming film starring Jennifer Lopez, which is set to be released in February.
The Italian company has been presenting its collections to buyers at its elegant Milan showroom, designed by David Chipperfield, for the last few years. In fact, Pasquale Bruni stopped showcasing at both VicenzaOro and Baselworld, limiting its presence to Couture in Las Vegas and the Centurion jewelry show in Phoenix.
“For now, the strategy is to continue to host the clients in Europe in our own showroom in Milan, presenting the new collections in a more intimate way, with Eugenia meeting everyone to tell them the inspirations and explain the techniques behind each piece. So we will keep doing this, but for the U.S. it’s different, it’s really important to be at these shows,” concluded Bruni.