Italian luxury brand striking roots in Asia
Business development director for Coccinelle, Antonio Sottile, told BusinessWorld that it will soon open a mono-brand store in the country, recognizing it as an attractive market.
Its signature bags and a selection of its accessories are currently available at Rustan’s Makati and Shangri-La, but Rustan’s is slowly bringing in the brand’s complete line, including shoes as a stand-alone store is planned for next year.
Meanwhile, the brand will officially launch a store in Mongolia at the end of March.
“We’ll be the first Italian brand of leather when we open in Mongolia later this month,” Mr. Sottile noted, adding that he considers Coccinelle as one of the forerunners in tapping the Mongolian market.
The brand has opened about 20 stores over the last three years, including some in countries that would not be the typical areas chosen when starting a company’s expansion, including Poland, the Ukraine, Romania and Thailand.
“We want to place [the brand] in emergent markets aside from major ones,” he explained.
“We’re also expanding in usual territories like China and Kazakhstan.”
Mr. Sottile commented that these are important markets that should not be overlooked, noting that the brand already has a handful of stores in China.
“There are unknown cities in China where the population starts at 30 million,” a fact he shared to cement the significance of the country in their expansion plans. “Everyone’s going to China.”
Kazakhstan is also important, he said. “Where there is oil, there’s money and people spend. In Kazakhstan, they’re willing to purchase $5,000 to $10,000 per bag.”
“We plan to be everywhere,” he said.
Keeping Italian heritage alive
Mr. Sottile admitted that Italian brands, including Coccinelle, are having a hard time producing the entirety of their products within Italy. He noticed that it has been a trend in the past few years to outsource production to China and other countries. Presently, part of the brand’s production is done in Romania and Asian countries.
What is important, he said, is that the brand is Italian, the company is in Italy, and the leather is 100% from Tuscany.
“The owner personally travels to Tuscany and personally handpicks the best leather.”
Another trend Mr. Sottile pointed out is the buying out of smaller family-owned brands by bigger corporations. Coccinelle, being family-owned, feels a bit threatened. “I hope we don’t lose the tradition of family-owned brands,” he said.
An example of this trend, he pointed out, is the acquisition of 150-year-old La Rinascente, a famous upscale Italian department store, by a Thai company last year.
Coccinelle has also been receiving numerous offers, specifically from Southeast Asia and Russia -- “we’re a very strong brand in this region,” said Mr. Sottile. However, he noted that most acquisitions do not affect the direction or heritage of a brand. “If an Asian company buys an Italian brand, nothing really changes, they just buy it as an investment. The Italian heritage is still there.”
Refreshing the brand image
Once the premiere country go-to for fashion, Italy has been sharing the limelight for the past years with other European nations.
Mr. Sottile, who considers Coccinelle leather goods an accessible luxury, said that they’re not scared of up-and-coming brands.
Established in 1978, Coccinelle has been known for bags using classic shapes. For this year, a new logo has been cooked up and a new designer from Belgium joined the team eight months ago to spearhead a change in the brand’s style direction.
“We saw a need for a new logo for brand recognition. It’s important for the international market,” said Mr. Sottile, “the need was dictated by the foreign market and not the Italian.”
“Before it was classical shapes. Bags now have evolved, they are light, colorful, have a variety of shapes, and are very functional and versatile. There’s so much possibility with the bag line now,” said Danny Alibudbud, Rustan’s buyer for Coccinelle.
He recounted that when the brand first became available in Rustan’s a year ago, the initial buyers were more mature women, “but now, with the new designs, we’re getting the younger crowd.”
Mr. Sottile added that there’s a need to update the look and feel of the brand. “If you notice, the rich are getting younger. When I was in Vietnam, in Saigon, women in their 20s were buying Jimmy Choo’s. Not foreigners but local Vietnamese.”
Spring/Summer 2012
This season, Coccinelle centers on a ladylike vibe, focusing on handcrafted metal details, minimalist design and woven leather handles.
The new collection opted for the velvety feel of sauvage calfskin, silky smooth calfskin and multi-color saffiano leather (subtly alternating them with elk skin print leather or double-faced metallic leather).
Aptly for Summer, the bags also boast of bright colors. From a base of warm shades -- earth to tan, sand to ochre -- to vibrant seaside blue, sunshine yellow, lemon, orange and grass green.
Its signature bags and a selection of its accessories are currently available at Rustan’s Makati and Shangri-La, but Rustan’s is slowly bringing in the brand’s complete line, including shoes as a stand-alone store is planned for next year.
Meanwhile, the brand will officially launch a store in Mongolia at the end of March.
“We’ll be the first Italian brand of leather when we open in Mongolia later this month,” Mr. Sottile noted, adding that he considers Coccinelle as one of the forerunners in tapping the Mongolian market.
The brand has opened about 20 stores over the last three years, including some in countries that would not be the typical areas chosen when starting a company’s expansion, including Poland, the Ukraine, Romania and Thailand.
“We want to place [the brand] in emergent markets aside from major ones,” he explained.
“We’re also expanding in usual territories like China and Kazakhstan.”
Mr. Sottile commented that these are important markets that should not be overlooked, noting that the brand already has a handful of stores in China.
“There are unknown cities in China where the population starts at 30 million,” a fact he shared to cement the significance of the country in their expansion plans. “Everyone’s going to China.”
Kazakhstan is also important, he said. “Where there is oil, there’s money and people spend. In Kazakhstan, they’re willing to purchase $5,000 to $10,000 per bag.”
“We plan to be everywhere,” he said.
Keeping Italian heritage alive
Mr. Sottile admitted that Italian brands, including Coccinelle, are having a hard time producing the entirety of their products within Italy. He noticed that it has been a trend in the past few years to outsource production to China and other countries. Presently, part of the brand’s production is done in Romania and Asian countries.
What is important, he said, is that the brand is Italian, the company is in Italy, and the leather is 100% from Tuscany.
“The owner personally travels to Tuscany and personally handpicks the best leather.”
Another trend Mr. Sottile pointed out is the buying out of smaller family-owned brands by bigger corporations. Coccinelle, being family-owned, feels a bit threatened. “I hope we don’t lose the tradition of family-owned brands,” he said.
An example of this trend, he pointed out, is the acquisition of 150-year-old La Rinascente, a famous upscale Italian department store, by a Thai company last year.
Coccinelle has also been receiving numerous offers, specifically from Southeast Asia and Russia -- “we’re a very strong brand in this region,” said Mr. Sottile. However, he noted that most acquisitions do not affect the direction or heritage of a brand. “If an Asian company buys an Italian brand, nothing really changes, they just buy it as an investment. The Italian heritage is still there.”
Refreshing the brand image
Once the premiere country go-to for fashion, Italy has been sharing the limelight for the past years with other European nations.
Mr. Sottile, who considers Coccinelle leather goods an accessible luxury, said that they’re not scared of up-and-coming brands.
Established in 1978, Coccinelle has been known for bags using classic shapes. For this year, a new logo has been cooked up and a new designer from Belgium joined the team eight months ago to spearhead a change in the brand’s style direction.
“We saw a need for a new logo for brand recognition. It’s important for the international market,” said Mr. Sottile, “the need was dictated by the foreign market and not the Italian.”
“Before it was classical shapes. Bags now have evolved, they are light, colorful, have a variety of shapes, and are very functional and versatile. There’s so much possibility with the bag line now,” said Danny Alibudbud, Rustan’s buyer for Coccinelle.
He recounted that when the brand first became available in Rustan’s a year ago, the initial buyers were more mature women, “but now, with the new designs, we’re getting the younger crowd.”
Mr. Sottile added that there’s a need to update the look and feel of the brand. “If you notice, the rich are getting younger. When I was in Vietnam, in Saigon, women in their 20s were buying Jimmy Choo’s. Not foreigners but local Vietnamese.”
Spring/Summer 2012
This season, Coccinelle centers on a ladylike vibe, focusing on handcrafted metal details, minimalist design and woven leather handles.
The new collection opted for the velvety feel of sauvage calfskin, silky smooth calfskin and multi-color saffiano leather (subtly alternating them with elk skin print leather or double-faced metallic leather).
Aptly for Summer, the bags also boast of bright colors. From a base of warm shades -- earth to tan, sand to ochre -- to vibrant seaside blue, sunshine yellow, lemon, orange and grass green.
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