Furla revives menswear with major event at Pitti Uomo

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Jan 9, 2015

In the midst of rapid expansion, Furla is putting the focus on menswear. The long-established Italian leatherwear brand, positioned as affordable luxury, is developing big plans, including repositioning its image with an advertising campaign by Mario Testino, new openings and the launch of a genuine "Furla House" in Milan. It also intends to revive its menswear segment.

To mark the occasion, the brand is organizing a special event during the opening of the men’s fashion trade show Pitti Uomo in Florence on January 14. It will be held in the Alcatraz area at Stazione Leoplda and will feature interactive installations and videos set to a house DJ set by the renowned Swedish label Studio Barnhus. 

"We’ve already developed a menswear line to test the market. From there, we had to figure out how to better organize ourselves internally in order to have a more complete and significant presence in the menswear segment," said Furla CEO Eraldo Poletto. 

"This decision was dictated by the desire to expand and complete our range, as well as to meet demand, especially from the East, where customers are looking for high-quality, contemporary men’s products. We worked on a joyful product that is capable of expressing our Italian lifestyle with a fair price/quality ratio," he said. 

Furla’s autumn/winter 2014-15 menswear collection, which will be presented at Pitti Uomo, consists of bags, belts, small leather goods, key rings, and fabric accessories, such as scarves and gloves. The men's line is entirely made in Italy, while made in Italy represents 61% of the brand’s total production across all of its lines. 

The collection’s flagship product is the "Modular bag", a bag made up of different modules that can be transformed into a weekend or business bag, accommodating any sudden change in plan, featuring interchangeable parts in customizable colors and fabrics.

"A lot of work has been put into focusing on products, which has resulted in a reduction in the number of our lines, as well as repositioning our product upwards and redefining them in order to make them more recognizable. We are now ready to re-launch a full menswear line," concluded the exec.