The global financial crunch has forced most luxury brands to review their expansion plans, but Italy's quality menswear label Zegna is taking an upbeat approach and is banking on a more positive future
''Things are really tough. I'm constantly keeping tabs on a situation where forecasts change on a quarterly basis. But I'm upbeat about the future and what will happen in the long run,'' CEO Ermenegildo Zegna said here on Wednesday.
''Maybe we won't again see big spending years like 2006 and 2007, but we will see a new reality and new sort of spending,'' he added.
The CEO was here in the Japanese capital for the opening of a new Zegna mega store, a five-story, 700-square-meter outlet, which is opening at a time when Japanese retail sales are falling.
Zegna admits that this was a big gamble but observed how it in a way reflected a certain characteristic of the Italian mentality in the export market.
''Risk is the name of the game and we've always been a little ahead of the others, like in China, for example. We believed in its potential immediately and in 2008 we grew 35% and even this year we are seeing double-digit increases,'' the CEO said.
Zegna said the company was in a position to weather the current financial storm and ''when this crisis is over we are convinced that will will have a more important market share than our competitors''.
Zegna's decision to expand in Japan is in sharp contrast to other leading fashion groups. Last December, Louis Vuitton gave up plans for a mega store in Ginza, the heart of Tokyo's fashion world, which would have been bigger than it Paris headquarters.
Founded in 1910, Zegna is a world leader in the production of fine men's clothing and aside from its own label, it also produces suits for Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Tom Ford.
