MILAN — Peuterey is sitting out Milan Fashion Week this season as it prepares a new commercial, marketing and communication strategy.
The Italian group’s men’s and women’s Peuterey Studio lines, designed by Federico Curradi, are to be presented together in one show and the clothes will be available online and off-line to retailers the following day. The brand will continue to present its collections in Milan — but twice a year.
Francesca Lusini, president of the Tuscany-based, family-owned outerwear firm and daughter of the founder, told WWD that the company was evaluating when the first in-season collection will be unveiled.
During Pitti Uomo in Florence and Milan Men’s Fashion Week at the end of June, the company will launch a new global advertising campaign with billboards in the two cities. The company will also rework its Web site to help drive the new course. Peuterey already sells online in Europe and the U.S.
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“This is part of our philosophy, to be as close as possible to consumers, with a practical approach under the tag ‘reality telling,’” Lusini said. “The world has changed and technology and digitalization are part of our lives, whether we like it or not, and companies must adapt. Our true patrimony is the customer, who wants to be immediately satisfied.”
Asked how the company plans to handle production and delivery, Lusini said the firm relies on “constant research and innovation throughout the year. We trademark fabrics, but the true challenge is to introduce collections more restrained in terms of numbers, but more powerful and compelling in content.”
Lusini said the company is “experimenting with different kinds of distribution,” explaining that the Studio line is more retail-driven, while the Main collection is wholesale-driven. She also said Peuterey is revisiting formats to present the brand during fashion week. “There are so many new ways, there’s a real explosion of means.”
The Peuterey Main collection will be presented to select media during press days ahead of the season. Asked about the feasibility of keeping the collections under wraps, Lusini said the company has years of practice. “When we used to show at Pitti Uomo, our stand was behind closed doors because we’ve always been bombarded by copies. Perhaps a photo or two slipped by, but we’ve become experts on protection.”
Speaking of showing genders together, Lusini said she’s always “believed in the power of the couple, also in our communication,” and in supporting the image of “real people, so that customers don’t feel they are wearing a costume, but they feel good with themselves. So we are lucky that we are in line with the trend.”
When it was pointed out that Carlo Capasa, president of the Italian Chamber of Fashion, cautioned against “a flattening of the offer” with the see-now, buy-now model, Lusini agreed. “It’s a must to avoid this, but, on the contrary, I believe it’s an opportunity to inject and stimulate new creativity.” She said consumers are increasingly demanding limited-edition pieces, especially in Asia, for example.
Also, she said “there are no more seasons and there are more and more global travelers. Trans-seasonal represents our philosophy.” In the brand’s fall 2016 collection, there are outfits that employ the Thindown fabric, which is entirely natural, made with feathers in Italy, and that can be employed 12 months a year.
Peuterey’s new path comes at a time of major shifts in the industry as it reevaluates its cadence and show formats. “It’s an exciting moment, there is energy, some may call it confusion, some creative chaos, but it’s a good jolt, whatever the position of each company,” Lusini said.
Under new chief executive officer Francesco Pesci, Peuterey is expanding globally, developing more as a fashion rather than sportswear brand.