Italian brand Furla pioneering the ‘affordable luxe’ sector
Furla’s China growth of more than 40 per cent shows how consumer taste is shifting, and how a nimble brand can capitalise on a luxury slowdown
While several big European luxury labels suffer, others in the industry are gaining momentum as ground is cleared. “Premium” or “affordable luxe” brands are edging in for their share of a shifting China market and its growing, aspirational middle class. American brands such as Coach, Tory Burch and Michael Kors and their fashion-forward accessories lines have held a traditional advantage in this game.
Furla is another such brand but, it argues, with the covetable and important difference of being Italian. Furla owns its factories and can stitch that all-important “Made in Italy” label on to 80 per cent of its merchandise in its Asia-Pacific stores, the brand’s Asia-Pacific chief executive Alessandro Bartoli says.
Its most popular bags such as the PVC Candy model and the leather Metropolis are all 100 per cent “Made in Italy”. As fashion signifiers go, this still has much cachet for Chinese consumers, who venerate the country’s craftsmanship and quality.
“This is a very important value-added point for them,” says Bartoli of Furla’s Chinese clients, “especially when you consider that our Made in Italy products cost the same as Made in China competitors in the premium segment.
