PARIS — Yves Salomon is thinking big.
The French luxury furrier, which embarked on an expansion program in 2013, is moving full steam ahead this year with a series of store openings scheduled through the end of September in places as diverse as Paris, Madrid and New York.
“This year is about communicating the new image,” said Yves Salomon, the family firm’s chief executive officer. “The strategy is to create a global brand, develop ready-to-wear, which we see as an accessory to fur, with mixed products, including leather and knitwear, and to show that fur can be fashionable in many ways,” he explained, adding that “the new openings are meant to communicate that.”
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A big step for the company is the opening this week of a new flagship on Paris’ Avenue Montaigne in the location previously occupied by Revillon. That collection, which Yves Salomon acquired in 2007, has been designed by an in-house team since the departure of its artistic director Andrew Heather in February 2013.
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The new door will stock Yves Salomon’s signature fur line along with sister lines Army Fur and Meteo, but also the updated rtw collection for women, which it presented in March for the first time.
Salomon said he expects “to create a lot of buzz with it,” helped by a new ad campaign thought up by Atelier Franck Durand, which previously lent its artistic touch to Balmain and Isabel Marant. The ads are slated to appear in September issues of fashion magazines.
Meanwhile, winter 2015-16 will see the debut of an extended men’s wear line, which — much like its female counterpart — will provide “full looks” instead of single items, most of which are outerwear.
The brand, whose roots in fur date back to the Twenties, is keen on pushing boundaries with its innovative fur treatments. To wit: for summer, its research team introduced a new technique whereby fur is ink-jet printed, allowing for a more natural look, as seen on a Vichy-check coat. The company is not shy about punching, pattern- and color-printing fur or mixing it with other materials such as silk or Neoprene to make it lighter, either.
Rtw pieces retail between 500 euros, or $673, for a top and 1,500 euros, or $2,019, for a coat.
In 2013, the furrier posted sales of 40.5 million euros, or $53.78 million, up 15 percent from 2012. It is projecting revenues of 45 million euros, or $61.95 million, by yearend, up 11 percent, despite taking a “direct hit” from Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, according to the ceo.
“Russia is our largest market, accounting for 10 percent of total business, but since we are present in most other countries, we can balance it out with calmer markets such as the Unites States and Asia,” he said, adding that while Russia experienced “a little slowdown,” in Ukraine sales dropped by 30 percent.
Boasting a total of 600 points of sale, Yves Salomon operates nine flagships — five in France, one in Aspen, Colo., and three in Russia. The brand is slated to launch a pop-up boutique at Saks Fifth Avenue in September and to add corners at El Corte Inglés and Bergdorf Goodman, also in September, to its newly set up locations at the Printemps and Le Bon Marché department stores.