American Vintage launches London store, mulls Milan opening

By

Laura Galbiati

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Jan 22, 2020

French menswear and womenswear label American Vintage, founded by Michaël Azoulay in 2005, has launched a new, 96 sq m London store in Old Spitafields Market, in the UK capital’s East End.

 
The store’s interior design was created by Elsa Ascione and Flore Le Lann, two architects working in the in-house team. It is characterised by soft hues and natural elements, like stone, brick and fabric, reflecting the label’s brand identity and contrasting with the brass and steel furniture. The womenswear collections are displayed against the backdrop of one of the building's original brick walls.
 
Besides broadening its retail footprint in the UK, American Vintage is also active in Italy. A few months ago, it opened a new store in Turin, adding to the ones in Verona, Florence, Rome and Bologna, and the Serravalle and Scalo Milano outlet stores.

As Azoulay told FashionNetwork.com, there may be significant developments in Milan in the course of this year. “We are looking for the right location in Milan, an essential destination for a fashion label today. We are hoping to be able to inaugurate our first Milanese store by the end of this year. Italy currently accounts for 5% of our total revenue, so there are huge growth opportunities, although it's a tough market, with strong competition and very expensive rents in the main cities,” said Azoulay.
 
American Vintage is also keen to continue to grow in the wholesale channel in Italy, not so much in terms of number of stores served, currently 200, but by boosting its presence within the multibrand retailers already selling the label.
 
In 2019, American Vintage generated revenue of €125.9 million. Womenswear accounted for 85% of the total, and e-tail for 8%. Azoulay indicated that the label wants the latter channel to reach a share of at least 15%. Over 50% of the label's revenue is generated outside France, the leading foreign markets being the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain.