Frankie Morello Opens Milan Flagship
HOME FOR FRANKIE: “I want to call this revamp a ‘new wave’,” said Stefano Di Nezza, general manager of FMM Srl, the company that operates the Frankie Morello label, as the brand officially opened the doors to its first flagship store on Monday night.
Located on Milan’s Via Verri, the two-story space covering 3,013 square feet was designed incorporating up-cycled materials repurposed from the restoration works of the location. A range of materials such as frosted glass, steel, iron, concrete and wood enhance the unit’s industrial atmosphere, which is peppered with yellow details.
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“We’re mainly a wholesale-based company, but retail gives us the opportunity to reach out to and get in touch with final customers,” Di Nezza explained, adding other units will potentially be rolled out across markets. The executive’s main focus continues to be wholesale, with projects to streamline key accounts to better position the brand.
“I think the store is a real manifestation of the new direction for Frankie Morello: Bold urban, ironic and sensual,” echoed artistic director Damir Doma, who was appointed to the role last June. After presenting only 10 or so men’s looks on the catwalk last September, Doma noted “when you enter a heritage brand, you would be drawn to the archives but here it’s more like starting from scratch, which allowed me to define the codes for the label.”
The store’s opening served as a platform for Doma to showcase the more commercial pieces of the brand’s men’s fall collection, which will be fully unveiled with a coed show during February’s Milan Fashion Week. “In February we will show the more directional items mapping out the future direction, but still I had to build a certain core collection which really helps me to define my vision,” he added.
Di Nezza praised the work that Doma has been doing so far, noting, for example, that customers are now equally split between women and men, compared to 85 percent of sales coming from men’s wear when he joined last year. Noting the brand is on the right path “to scale internationally,” Di Nezza said that in addition to the Middle East, Europe and Eastern Europe, he is committed to grow Frankie Morello’s presence in the Far East.
Founded in 1999 by Maurizio Modica and Pierfrancesco Gigliotti, Frankie Morello was acquired in 2016 by FFM Srl controlled by Italian entrepreneur Angela Ammaturo.
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