 |
 |
Calvin Klein Moves Into Beijing
May 25, 2007 Zucchelli, men’s creative director for Calvin Klein and a CFDA nominee, was in town with CEO Tom Murry, women’s creative director Francisco Costa and communications director Malcolm Carfrae for the May 17 launch of the first Calvin Klein Collection store in China—the company’s sixth worldwide. The new, 2,690-square-foot store is located in the lower basement of the Peninsula Palace hotel. The hotel houses several upscale fashion brands including A. Testoni, Burberry, Cerruti 1881, Dolce & Gabbana and Etro. “This is a nice hotel,” said Zucchelli. “It is quite a different model from the West, which would not have stores in a hotel. The Peninsula is a shopping destination.” Upon entering the Calvin Klein Collection store, shoppers find mannequins topped in sparkly silver motorcycle helmets, and a long, dark wood table leading into the women’s section. The space is equally divided between women’s and men’s wear, offering a broad range of formal and casual attire, jeans and accessories. Zucchelli said the brand opened a Collection store in Beijing because “the market is booming. It is the strongest booming market. Every international designer has a freestanding store here or some retail space. China is very important to us.” The store opened with an in-store party followed by a gala dinner at People 8 with over 100 local fashion elite. Calvin Klein has maintained a network of jeans, underwear and ck stores here since 2000, and currently has 52 freestanding stores in 25 cities in 13 provinces in Mainland China, and will have more than 1,300 points of sale for accessories, apparel, eyewear and watches by yearend 2007. “We wanted to be profitable, so we started with the core businesses of jeans, underwear and ck, and it has never been a disadvantage,” said Murry. “We can also sell high-end and bridge the price gap.” He added that the company will continue to open a minimum of 10 new stores in China per year. “Shanghai is our number-one city saleswise, followed by Beijing, then Shenzhen, then Hangzhou, then Wenzhou.” More Collection stores are also in the works for Beijing and Shanghai, Murry added, depending on real-estate availability. The company’s global management was previously in China in October 2006 for a massive World of Calvin Klein event in Shanghai, which they replicated last week in Tokyo. “I like China very much, although I didn’t get to see much of Shanghai last time,” said Zucchelli. “Here in Beijing you see more of the real China, or at least what I expected China to be like. Things like the hundreds-of-years-old cypress trees. Shanghai gave the sensation of being very glittery, with big buildings.” He said he also noticed “an extreme hunger for fashion. There is an amazing enthusiasm for fashion, and an amazing hospitality in the fashion community. People are more welcoming to outsiders than in the West. Maybe because fashion is so new here. It is a great moment, when everything starts.” “China is as sophisticated, cosmopolitan as any other luxury market,” added Murry. “I am not worried about a bubble. From everything I read about China’s economy, I think the growth is sustainable, and the government is doing a good job of managing it.” Most international brands in China report that, outside the first-tier cities, men’s wear remains dominant. Zucchelli said: “Over the last three years men’s wear has had a tremendous jump. Men are very interested in fashion, know where to get it, and many new magazines for men have appeared. There is more interest in men’s wear than ever before. Men’s wear ... now has its own voice. And men’s pricing in general is more realistic, compared to the high prices for women’s. “For Chinese men, fashion is really starting.” Last week in Tokyo, the company had a one-night installation of the World of Calvin Klein in front of the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery within the Meiji Shrine Outer Gardens. Calvin Klein collaborated with Shinichi Ogawa to create a one-level glass house at the entrance of the gallery, which was built in 1926. The Calvin Klein logo was projected onto the gallery’s facade. Murry, Costa and Zucchelli were at this event as well, along with executives from Onward Kashiyama Co. Ltd., Calvin Klein’s Japanese distributor and licensee. Murry said Calvin Klein is looking to open a Collection store in either Aoyama or Ginza next year. |
Costa, Murry and Zucchelli in
Beijing   |
| News| Features| Trends| Fashion Careers| Classifieds| Events Calendar | Created by worldarchipelago | |
| About DNR| Subscribe| Privacy Policy| User Agreement | ||
|
© CondeNet, Inc. All rights
reserved. |
