ISTANBUL — Harvey Nichols has launched its first store in increasingly fashion-hungry Turkey, quietly opening its doors earlier this month in the luxury Istanbul shopping mall Kanyon.
Such is the potential Harvey Nichols and its Turkish partner Unitim see in Turkey’s growing fashionable set that there are also plans for another store in Istanbul and possibly two other Turkish cities by the end of the decade. With high-end malls opening across the city and luxury labels such as Burberry expanding, the spending power of the brand-conscious is being eyed with anticipation.
“There are 12 million to 14 million people in Istanbul, and the Bosphorus [the waterway that divides Europe and Asia through the city] is lined with millionaires’ residences — if just the people living there shopped here, we would be fine,” said Brian Handley, store general manager of Harvey Nichols Istanbul. The unit in Turkey brings the number of Harvey Nichols stores worldwide up to 10, including units in London, Dublin, Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester in the U.K. and Ireland.
Harvey Nichols chief executive Joseph Wan said that if only the wealthiest 5 percent of the city’s population shopped the store, it would be successful. The new Harvey Nichols is projected to have sales of at least $40 million in its first year, said Burc Cemiloglu, who heads up Unitim, the company that also brought shirt label Thomas Pink to Kanyon and is the Turkish partner for Tommy Hilfiger, Camper, Gas and Accessorise.
In all, there are some 300 brands in the three-story, 86,100-square-foot store, several of which are new to Turkey or are introducing a new concept.
Describing his enthusiasm for Harvey Nichols’ London flagship — which he referred to as a “school where we learned quality, aesthetics, beauty and luxury” when he was a university student — Cemiloglu said he acted quickly when he heard the company was turning toward developing markets. The agreement to open the store, which involved an initial investment of $13 million, in partnership with Unitim, was reached in just four months, Cemiloglu said.
“Istanbul is a world city. It is slowly proving worthy of its status,” he said.
Handley, who also has worked at Harvey Nichols in Manchester and Birmingham, said he believes with its 10th store the company has created the most beautiful one. Women’s changing rooms are marked not with a simple sign but a television screen on a column showing a women’s fashion show. Hats are displayed on a sculpture made of a geometric leaf motif that recurs throughout the store. Cosmetic counters are decorated with rows of handblown glass baubles dripping from the ceiling. Shoes, many displaying sparkly details and precious stones, are showcased like jewelry in a walk-in glass enclosure. And the personal shopping area, which includes a bar and showers, is snuggled behind a wall of crystal and glass.
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“That was meant to be wallpaper,” Handley said. “But then the local craftsmen told us what they could do instead….Just by using local craftsmen, who are very skilled, we can afford to do so much more than in most other stores.”
He expects the clientele here to be on the flashier side, similar to the Harvey Nichols in Manchester, rather than the more understated customers of the flagship in London. “In Manchester, they tend to be bolder than London — they are not afraid to try things,” he said. “And while Turkish men tend to dress in sober suits, Turkish women’s clothes just say, ‘Whoa! Look at me!'”
To tempt them there will be plenty of Roberto Cavalli and Christian Lacroix, as well as Chanel, Fendi, Loewe, Balenciaga, Missoni and Michael Kors, in the women’s wear section. There also will also be Zac Posen, Turkish Cyprus-born Hussein Chalayan and Pollini by Turkish designer Rifat Ozbek. A younger, edgier casual section contains labels such as Edun, True Religion, Hugo Boss Orange Label and Seven For All Mankind. Salvatore Ferragamo has a shop-in-store near the entrance. Accessories include Bottega Veneta and Luella, while the airy cosmetics area includes brands such as Jo Malone, La Mer and Laura Mercier, alongside names including Lancôme, Armani and Chanel cosmetics.