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Italian label Philosophy continues to see double-digit growth
Italian fashion label Philosophy went back on the growth track after Lorenzo Serafini took charge of design in 2015. The young womenswear line by Alberta Ferretti only accounts for 5% of the total sales of the Aeffe group, also the owner of Moschino, but in the last few years it embarked on a new, promising course.
As Massimo Ferretti, President of Aeffe, told FashionNetwork, "Since the inception of this new stage under the creative leadership of Lorenzo Serafini, who premièred with the Autumn/Winter 2015-16, Philosophy has won unanimous plaudits from the buyers and the media, and posted a remarkable, steady progression, with a 25% sales increase in 2016."
Growth is continuing unabated in 2017, with a revenue rise of 18% in the first half of the year and a 13% one in the first nine months, as the label reached a revenue of €13 million as of 30th September.
After Lorenzo Serafini took charge of the label, Philosophy left the New York catwalks, where it had showed since 2006, and went back to presenting its collections in Milan. Philosophy was created in 1984, as the second line of the Alberta Ferretti label, and was originally styled by Alberta Ferretti herself. In the last two years, Ferretti chose to concentrate on her main line, for which she introduced a plethora of special projects, such as the Alberta Ferretti Limited Edition collection of evening and cocktail gowns.
"Alberta Ferretti and Philosophy are two wholly independent brands within the group's portfolio. In a few seasons, Lorenzo Serafini has managed to define a style that is feminine and full of character, for young women at once romantic and contemporary. Philosophy undoubtedly has a huge growth potential, both from a wholesale and a retail point of view," said Massimo Ferretti.
The label is currently distributed via 400 multibrand stores worldwide and a series of monobrand outlets: corners in department stores like Barney's and shop-in-shops in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, inside the Stars Avenue Mall, and in department stores such as La Rinascente in Milan and Le Printemps in Paris. Philosophy also operates a monobrand store in the Petrovsky Passage pedestrian shopping street in Moscow.
In Paris, besides the recently opened Le Printemps shop-in-shop, Philosophy also has a retail corner at Le Bon Marché. "France currently accounts for 5% of sales, but we reckon it is a market with a big growth potential. The most significant outlet markets for the brand are, in ranking order, Europe, the USA, Asia and Russia," said Massimo Ferretti.
Lorenzo Serafini was able both to add fresh zest to Philosophy and to give the label a much greater visibility with young consumers by relying on social media, as he recently explained talking at the Milan Fashion Global Summit. "Paradoxically, by creating a romantic, almost whispered kind of fashion, I've attracted people who are much more visible than myself. This allowed the label to become popular in a short period of time, in totally viral fashion!"
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