MILAN — Polène started the new year with a bang by cutting the ribbon of its first Italian store in Milan. This is the latest in a string of key cities where the leather goods brand has planted its flag recently, following the likes of Copenhagen and Beijing last month.
The company zeroed in on a 3,692-square-foot location in central Via Manzoni, standing on a corner opposite the Armani/Libri store and positioned a stone’s throw away from the tony shopping street Via Monte Napoleone.
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Offering a preview of the new space on Wednesday, Polène cofounder and chief executive officer Antoine Mothay told WWD the project was two years in the making as he looked for the ideal location that could meet his demands for both strategic positioning and size, as well as for an airy environment defined by high ceilings and plenty of natural light.
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Envisioned by Norm Architects, the space was conceived to strike the balance between the brand’s DNA, Milanese architecture and Italian craftsmanship, Mothay said. The customer journey was designed as a linear sequence of areas spotlighting different materials and transitioning from light to darker hues.
“The overall idea was about having quite a long perspective, and each room is a story about one material and a different way to work it,” Mothay said at the entrance, which is marked by Italian travertine marble and the interplay of its more polished and rawer versions across the floor, displays and walls.
The following hall is a tribute to Polène’s expertise in leather, expressed in ways including paneled walls, custom furniture, podiums piling up offcuts from its bag production and flooring made of bricks of compressed leather that mimic the effect of marble. In addressing the upcycling approach, Mothay highlighted that the mounds of offcuts during the manufacturing process can reach 40 to 60 percent and the brand aims to repurpose them in interior concepts and the creation of other items, such as the ones developed under the Plèi line.
The main hall displaying Polène’s full offering is dominated by wood, worked in several techniques — from the polished version of shelves to logs used as display units — and conveying a sense of warmth. Adding a touch of modernity, there’s machinery enabling product customization with initials.
The last, and darker, space is dedicated to clay, used in areas like the flooring and cash counters. An artwork Polène has commissioned from Italian artist Clara Graziolino, who used ceramic to evoke the texture of leather, stands out in the hall.
“We always love to work with a local designer or artist,” Mothay said. “[Graziolino] works this kind of art that speaks to us a lot because there’s an illusion of softness, which is something we love to do at Polène, as well,” he said.
In another nod to the city, Milan’s opera roots are celebrated in the “Leather Orchestra” corner, offering an immersive experience blending classical music and a choreography of leather panels. “It’s a relaxing environment. When we have complicated customers, we can always say to take their time here,” Mothay joked.
As with other openings, the new store promises to resonate well with Italian customers, who could previously buy its accessories mainly through the Polène e-commerce or its stores abroad. Hence, Mothay is already looking to double the brand’s presence in Italy with a location in Rome, although he stressed that the strategy both product- and retail-wise is to “never rush anything.”
Still, Polène plans to add more stores this year to the existing ones, which include doors in Paris, New York’s SoHo, Tokyo, Seoul, London and Hamburg. Between the second half of 2026 and early next year, the brand will make a further push in Asia — across Japan, Singapore, South Korea and China — and the U.S., where it plans to open stores in Chicago and Costa Mesa, Calif. A unit in Dubai is in the pipeline, as well as additional doors across Europe, Mothay said.
The direct-to-consumer approach will therefore remain key to distribution, as Mothay underscored that having full control of distribution best expresses the brand’s values.
“When we open a store, it’s not just a point of sale. It’s so important for us because it’s a point of meeting people, give them some knowledge about who we are, what we do, what we love,” Mothay said. “We can see that every time we open a store, people understand the brand better, and they speak about it to their friends, family, colleagues….They are quite good ambassadors…and this is so important for a brand that is not that old. We are not even 10 years old, so people needs to understand [us]. We are not interested in having a small space in a department store.”
Ditto for production, largely done in ateliers in Ubrique, Spain, where the brand can count on more than 1,200 artisans. Mothay highlighted how “having 80 percent of the production in the same city and in a bubble of two kilometers” enables Polène not only to ensure high quality standards but also achieve strong traceability. Hence, he said he’s committed to further invest in the quality of production facilities and craftsmanship.
More than online buzz and sweet-spot price positioning, the product itself is the key to the brand’s success, said the executive, who declined to disclose sales figures.
“There’s not only one thing…but If I have to summarize it, the heart of Polène is all about the product. I think a lot of fashion and accessories brands forgot the product, but it is everything for a client, especially an emotional one like the handbag,” Mothay said. “Price positioning is also important but not the key. It’s more about how you perceive the product, and the strength of Polène is to have a very good value perception. Customers understand all the effort and money we put into the product.”
Leather goods will remain the focus of the business, as the executive expressed no interest in expanding into other categories. Yet in 2023, the company introduced 24-karat gold-plated jewelry inspired by nature, which Mothay described as “our little caprice.”
This line sits in the Milan store next to the bag assortment, although there are no exclusive styles for the city. “We stick to a universal language….The store and experience is exclusive, not the product,” said Mothay, although he addressed how nods to the country are already embedded in the collection via the jewelry or bags crafted in merino wool, both manufactured in Italy.
In the past, Polène has also done collaborations, including ones last year with Irish designer Róisín Pierce for fall 2025 and with Chinese glass artist Jinya Zhao. Mothay said these are special projects stemming from the curiosity of seeing how artisans and artists can integrate leather into their practice and revealed more such tie-ups are on the way, teasing also a possible involvement in Salone del Mobile now that the brand has put roots in Milan.
Mothay promised 2026 will be a “very creative year” with new bag styles and leather techniques to be presented starting from March, and also shared his personal resolution. “To always improve. We are a young brand. We love to progress. We love to learn. Craftsmanship is something where you can always improve everything….We can always do better to try to surprise the client,” he concluded.