Modes Hires Simon Whitehouse, Plans London Retailer

Italian retailer Modes has appointed Simon Whitehouse chief govt. Whitehouse, who beforehand led communications agency Reference Studios and JW Anderson, will take the reins from Aldo Carpinteri, who based the retailer, then referred to as Stefania Mode, in Trapani, Sicily in 1971.

Modes plans to open its first boutique in London later this yr, including to greater than 20 shops throughout Europe, in glitzy resort cities in Italy, France and Switzerland, in addition to Paris and Milan.

With the brand new retailer, set to open on Conduit Road in Mayfair, “Modes can be in a singular place, with the ability to supply visibility and neighborhood within the European trend capitals of Milan, Paris and London,” mentioned Whitehouse. “No multi-brand idea retailer has ever accomplished that.”

The transfer is available in a brutal setting for multi-brand luxurious retailers, as aspirational clients pull again on spending and key manufacturers scale back their wholesale distribution, although Modes’ publicity to rich customers in locations like St Moritz, Porto Cervo, Portofino, Gstaad and Forte dei Marmi, could present it with a level of insulation.

Study extra:

Recession-Proof Impartial Retail

Even in a tricky economic system, small shops can stay aggressive by scaling their personal labels, testing new retail ideas and providing manufacturers shoppers can’t discover on Farfetch or in Selfridges.