The fixed retail shuffling on Madison Avenue continues with the delicate opening of Santoni’s relocated Higher East Facet boutique.
Situated at 667 Madison Avenue, subsequent to the brand new Jimmy Choo retailer that opened in December, Santoni moved its retailer three blocks uptown from its earlier house at 625 Madison Avenue.
In accordance with the corporate’s government chairman Giuseppe Santoni, who spoke to WWD’s sister publication FN final week throughout an unique walk-through of the two-level retailer, the transfer was wanted because the 30-story constructing that housed its former boutique is about to be demolished. (It will likely be changed by a a lot bigger, 100-floor skyscraper.)
Stepping inside, the brand new boutique feels huge and ethereal on the primary degree, which contains a backlit steel grid ceiling that stands at practically 20 toes excessive. Santoni famous throughout the walk-through that the ceiling was constructed to imitate the pure gentle outdoors in order that all the product’s true colours could be seen with out the distraction of fluorescent lightbulbs.
Conceived by architect and designer Patricia Urquiola, the roughly 3,800-square-foot boutique pairs shades of orange, terracotta and rose with champagne brass particulars for a heat setting. Many of the partitions are lined in both orange-tinted mirrors or three-dimensional paneling, and are accented with Italian marble, together with onyx and travertine consoles, cabinets and partitions.
The shop continues to a decrease degree that options the “Bespoke Santoni” space, the place clients can have a customized procuring expertise. A piece of this degree can be reserved for the artisanal workshop, the place an extended Rosso Verona marble floor serves as a workbench for considered one of Santoni’s shoemakers, who can restore, polish and resole clients’ footwear.
Together with the model’s footwear, luggage and equipment, the boutique will carry a devoted capsule assortment that includes males’s and girls’s equipment. The Carter wholecut oxfords, the Vanguard briefcase, the Marta slingback and a basic belt spotlight the gathering. The lads’s types seem in hand-painted brown leather-based with shade choices that clients can customise with the steerage of Santoni artisans, whereas the Marta slingback is imagined in calfskin leather-based in a silver shade with the signature ton-sur-ton maxi buckle lined in crystals.
This opening follows the revealing of an identical house designed by Urquiola final month in Milan. On Feb. 8, at Through Montenapoleone 18, the Spanish designer and architect unveiled her imaginative and prescient for the Marche, Italy-based firm’s new retail idea that will probably be utilized to all new shops going ahead.
The Through Montenapoleone boutique, which spans roughly 1,615 sq. toes, is characterised by a big hallway with terrazzo flooring, typical of the Milanese custom.
Santoni famous that this new design idea will probably be translated to extra shops as areas roll out. “We’ve a plan to open extra shops by the tip of 2025 or starting of 2026 within the U.S. in numerous cities,” the chief chairman stated. “The U.S. is our greatest market, so this retail development will probably be nice for us.”
The chief added that the Center East continues to be a scorching marketplace for the corporate, with extra areas slated to open within the area this 12 months, together with a second retailer in Dubai and a Doha location. All instructed, six shops are slated to open globally this 12 months.
Santoni stated 2024 was a profitable 12 months, with gross sales growing 7 p.c globally, with gross sales within the U.S. growing 18 p.c for the 12 months. “A lot of our development within the U.S. comes from our continued enlargement into ladies’s footwear and luggage,” Santoni defined. “Wanting forward, we are going to maintain specializing in these classes, in addition to our small leather-based items and equipment as we intention to continue to grow.”
