Furla takes off in first half-year

Furla is going strong in 2015. While luxury labels are struggling, especially in the Asian market, the Italian leather goods brand has announced an impressive 30% increase in sales for its first half-year, generating 151.5 million euros in revenue.

"This performance concern s all of our markets and sales networks. We are enjoying a magical moment, the fruit of the winning strategy put in place these past few years," explained CEO Eraldo Poletto.

To set itself apart from its competitors, Coach, Longchamp, Tory Burch, and Michael Kors, the company puts an emphasis on its "Italianness". It only uses Italian-sourced materials and produces its collections in Italy and in Europe. To better communicate on this Italian lifestyle, the company notably recruited famous photographer Mario Testino and undertook a new and ambitious marketing strategy, doubling its investments in this domain.

Furla now has twelve people on its creative team, led by creative director Fabio Fusi. Although handbags still represent 70% of sales, new categories are starting to make their place, such as women's shoes, created onsite and launched at the beginning of the year, as well as the men's collection, which was "specially designed for Japan and Asia, where it is a real success."

The acceleration of its development abroad was made possible mainly thanks to the strengthening of its retail network. Nearly 39 new Furla stores have opened in strategic locations since the beginning of the year. On 30 June, the total number of monobrand stores stood at 437, 208 of which directly-owned and generating 65% of total revenue.

In the first half-year, this network of directly-owned stores recorded a 22% increase in sales on a comparable scope. The company is currently present in 100 countries with also more than 1,100 customers between the multibrand stores and department stores.

The Italian market only accounts for no more than 20% of total sales. Japan leads the pack, at 25% of total sales, followed by the rest of Europe plus the Middle East and Africa (30%), Asia-Pacific (16%) and the United States (9%). In all of these regions, Furla recorded double-digit increases: +71% in Asia, +29% in Europe (excluding Italy), +28% in the US, +19% in Japan, and +18% in Italy.

Some thirty new openings around the world are to take place by the end of the year, notably in Shanghai and Singapore, while in Rome, Furla will be doubling its surface area in its flagship on the Piazza di Spagna.

Furla takes off in first half-year

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