MILAN — Italian label Les Copains, which was founded by the late entrepreneur Mario Bandiera in 1958 and was particularly popular between the ‘70s and the ‘90s for its knits and striped sweaters, is making a comeback just in time for fashion week. The brand will hold a presentation on Tuesday to coincide with its launch at 500 OVS stores.
The retail chain acquired the brand in 2022 after it hit financial troubles when its owner Super Srl went bankrupt that year. OVS won the auction for control of the Bologna-based company with an offer of 1.4 million euros, acquiring only the brand without the complementary assets.
You May Also Like
Related Articles
In an interview ahead of the relaunch, OVS chief executive officer Stefano Beraldo recalled that the deal was sparked by the will “to save a brand that was in a difficult position. This even before we thought of ways to make the collections, because it was coherent with the strategy we had started to undertake, which was to pivot from being a banner to being a container of brands.”
The retailer has been attracting new customers by becoming more of a platform, which in addition to offering a range of products designed and created in-house has increasingly opened up to collaborations with other brands. For instance, OVS worked for years with the late Elio Fiorucci on the Baby Angel brand and on the store’s label Grand & Hills with Davide De Giglio, who would go on to create New Guards Group.
One of its most successful moves was the introduction of the Piombo brand for men in 2018, followed by the launch of the women’s counterpart in 2021, when OVS forged ties with Gap after it acquired Stefanel, too. Incidentally, designer Massimo Piombo is also creative director of OVS and now oversees Les Copains’ creative operations and its in-house design team.
“After Piombo’s success, we thought Les Copains could have a similar journey and we discovered a brand that represented femininity, elegance and an innovative spirit,” Beraldo said. “We liked these qualities in a label, which had kind of lost its identity. But we froze Les Copains for a while because we didn’t have an immediate plan for it. We thought it through, we saw we had the skills and team who could work on this and last year we decided to invest our energies and resources in it.”
The executive underscored the goal was to offer a modern take on the brand rather than just reprising its heritage. “It was very contemporary in the past,” he said. “It’s a brand that doesn’t force us to replicate the exercise that made it popular, also because we saw that this stopped working at a certain point. So in our approach we’re looking forward rather than back.”
The design team has looked to Provence, too, judging by the French flair and boho-chic vibe it infused into the collection as seen in embroidered tops, broderie anglaise full skirts, cotton maxidresses, linen pants, soft suede jackets and fringed accessories. Denim is also a big part of the line, with flared cut and raw washes conveying a vintage allure, while the striped theme Les Copains is most recognized for was reintroduced in marinière knits, among others.
The collection has been conceived to be versatile and easy to match, as portrayed in the ad campaign photographed by The Sartorialist’s Scott Schuman. The images capture three women in the streets of Milan at different moments of the day, spanning from walking the dog and cycling to promenading in a park or heading to a yoga class.
The images highlight how Les Copains’ proposition differs from the Piombo-branded one for its more feminine mood, delicate prints and especially the color palette, which hinges on neutral colors rather than the bold hues that have become one of Piombo’s trademarks.
“The idea is to offer women an alternative,” Beraldo said. “But as for the positioning, it won’t differ much from the Piombo line but rather from the rest of the OVS offering, so prices will be on average 30 percent higher compared to that, mainly due to the materials and heightened attention to details.”
The collection will hit 500 OVS stores across Italy to begin with but Beraldo didn’t exclude the idea that the label could be taken abroad, replicating moves implemented for the Piombo and Stefanel brands. “For one, today Stefanel is in South Korea and I don’t see why we shouldn’t eye the Asian market for Les Copains as well, considering the brand awareness there is still strong and the label is remembered for its quality and positioning,” Beraldo said.
The retailer’s enhanced focus on womenswear and overarching strategy of strengthening its product development and distribution by diversifying its assortment to cater to different lifestyles and customer segments has been fruitful.
Listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 2015, in 2023 OVS SpA reported net sales of 1.53 billion euros and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 182 million euros. Preliminary figures projected a 6 percent increase in total sales in 2024, boosted by 12.8 percent growth and a 4 percent increase in sales in the third and fourth quarters of last year, respectively.
“For the fourth year in a row, sales for the womenswear segment continued to grow, reflecting our increased commitment and investment in product, quality and dedicated spaces,” said Beraldo, adding that the beauty and personal care category was also a key sales driver as it grew double digits.
The executive additionally pointed to revamped store interiors and an improved omnichannel experience that contributed to elevate the image and perception of the retail chain and further expand its consumer reach. Beraldo highlighted “a general pauperization of the middle class, who is now looking for more accessible alternatives,” too.
Store openings further contributed to the growth. OVS operates doors under its namesake banner, OVS Kids and BluKids as well as the Upim chain and Stefanel stores, listing more than 2,200 units globally. Beraldo said that between 50 and 100 new doors across its different brands will add to the count this year, including the Shaka ones dedicated to beauty.
As for markets, he pointed to Spain being the top-performing one for the company — which has around 100 doors in the country — followed by the Middle East and Serbia.
In 2023, OVS also made its first move into America with the opening of a Piombo store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, but Beraldo said “the U.S. is not a market for us, that was more about planting a flag.” He stressed that the opening is more instrumental in boosting OVS’ reputation rather than its cash flow.
Conversely, the executive sees a lot of potential in India, a market OVS is gearing up to reenter after a first test with a commercial partner went wrong 15 years ago. “Now we’re more prepared and we’re approaching it with our own means. It’s a huge market and we’re going to learn and get to know it up close,” Beraldo said. “I think our offering fits with what’s happening there.”