OTB Group: Create An Italian Version Of LVMH In Shanghai

On July 8, OTB, an Italian luxury group, opened four "first stores" in Shanghai.

The four stores belong to Maison Margiela, Marni, Jil sander and Amiri, which are all located in Shanghai Jincang Wenhua Plaza.

Opening of the first stores of four major brands

　　? ???Maison Margiela

This brand new Maison Margiela global flagship store is designed by architect Anne holtrop and covers an area of more than 500 square meters. The space continues the unique aesthetic style of the brand, which is divided into two layers.

In addition to the display area for men's and women's wear, handbags and perfume, the shop also has a limited time interactive exhibition space for Vic VIP salon, Maison Margiela caf é coffee shop and glam slam handbag.

The first floor, covering an area of about 270 square meters, showcases men's and women's wear collections, including the 2022 handmade collection, the MM6 Avant premi è re collection and the icon collection. In contrast, the walls of the fitting room are covered with a black phosphorescent epoxy coating, allowing shoppers instant access to another world, and with adjustable lighting.

The second floor covers an area of 245 square meters, including VIP salon, replica fragrance zone, Maison Margiela caf é and glam slam handbag. Glam slam interactive experience space has introduced Glam slam limited time exhibition and art installation. Nine kinds of Glam slam handbags also provide customized services.

　　? ??? Marni

Marni has become popular in China because of its combination of geometric and color basket bags. The news that Marni opened its first concept flagship store in Shanghai was also a surprise.

The purpose of this project is to explore the creative concept of "340 square meter store" by the creative director of marces.

Stepping into this Marni concept flagship store, we are confronted with the collision of industrial style and artistic sense. The concrete floor, convex outer wall, transparent glass shelf and grid lighting system with industrial wind on the ceiling show the concise but clear Marni style space language.

Walking to the middle of the two floors of Marni's shop, you can see the art space created by Marni, the architects Wilson brothers and Brinkworth interior design studio. It looks like a meteorite. This space, called meteorite, will present creative ideas from different artists from time to time. This also reflects the pioneering nature of this concept flagship store.

　　? ???Jil Sander

Jil sander, known for his minimalist aesthetics, just opened a boutique in Shenzhen's Vientiane City in early July, and then opened its first flagship store in Shanghai.

The shop has two floors and a total area of 600 square meters. The interior design was completed by creative designers Luke and Lucie Meier in collaboration with London architect and designer John Pawson. The striking open lattice facade, both outdoor and indoor, is made of Chinese red granite, which is also widely used indoors.

Stepping into the store, the overall spatial distribution is reflected. The granite base and glass window in the center greet customers in an arbitrary way. Walls, ceilings, sliding doors, and aluminum screens are coordinated by gray and white tones.

In order to celebrate the opening ceremony, Mr. and Mrs. Meiers, the creative director of Jil sander, devoted themselves to creating a new Jil sander flora project. The exclusive space will be equipped with green plants and flowers, and the design will be changed from month to month according to the season and theme. In addition, the designated area will be filled with plant art works for Jil sander and hand-made clay or glass flower utensils.

　　? ???Amiri

Amiri is a street niche brand founded by American designer Mike Amiri in 13 years, and was officially acquired by OTB group in 19 years. This time Amiri came to Shanghai and opened not only the first store in China, but also the brand's first store in overseas markets.

The 580 square meter shop is designed by creative director Mike Amiri in collaboration with the Paris interior design studio nocod. The facade of the shop is composed of limestone structure with minimalist color, which is in contrast with the geometric glass structure of the existing building.

Inside, Mike Amiri moved his brand West Coast architecture and interior aesthetics to Shanghai. The combination of indoor hanging metal hanger, marble texture and solid wood shelf combines nature and industrial texture, which is simple and elegant.

It is worth mentioning that Mike Amiri specially exhibited the expressive and abstract paintings created by Chinese artist Li Zhongshi in the shop. As part of the interior space, it is integrated with Amiri's California design aesthetics and emotional logic.

OTB group's ambition

In an interview with the Financial Times recently, Renzo Rosso, chairman of OTB group, said that nearly one third of the group's funds in the next three years will be bet on the expansion of the Chinese market.

One of the four flagship stores of OTB group is set up in Shanghai. China is becoming a major market for fashion and luxury goods in the world. Young consumers are increasingly interested in avant-garde brands, which is a great opportunity for the brands of OTB group.

In April this year, the designer brand Viktor & Rolf of OTB group announced that "Viktor & Rolf: meta fashion!" would be held in Shenzhen Works retrospective exhibition. This is also the first time Viktor & Rolf has held exhibitions in China and Asia. Designed by French exhibition designer Nathalie crini è re, the exhibition brings about 80 representative pieces of Viktor & Rolf clothing.

Viktor & Rolf, founded by Dutch designers Viktor horsting and Rolf Snoeren, was successfully acquired by OTB group in 2008. Although the avant-garde style of the brand is widely recognized in the fashion industry, ready-made clothes and high-end customized series have been in an embarrassing situation of not being popular. This year's retrospective exhibition in Shenzhen has greatly enhanced the brand awareness of Viktor & Rolf.

In addition to the above brands, OTB group also has a high-end denim brand diesel. Diesel is the most important revenue source of OTB group, accounting for 45% of total sales in 2021.

However, from the perspective of market heat, Maison Margiela is the star brand of OTB group in recent years. According to the performance report, Maison Margiela's sales increased 107% from 2019 to 2021. Among them, the revenue in 2020 was 240 million euro, and the sales volume in 2021 increased by 49% compared with that in 2020.

Maison Margiela has been positioned as a niche pioneer brand for a long time since its establishment in 1988, and its sales volume did not exceed 100 million US dollars until 2015. John Galliano, the creative director, brought Maison Margiela a number of top selling items, which helped her to break through the original niche.

The same is true in the Chinese market. In recent years, Maison Margiela has accelerated the pace of opening stores in China. Since opening the first boutique in Shanghai in 2020, the total number of stores in the city has been increased to five in just two years. In addition to the first tier cities, Maison Margiela has expanded to Chengdu, Ningbo, Shenyang and Xiamen.

Before the opening of the world's first flagship store in Shanghai, Maison Margiela took the lead in opening China's first Maison Margiela cafe in Yuanyang taiguli, Chengdu. Taking advantage of the popularity of "luxury brand cross-border coffee", Maison Margiela attracted many customers to punch in.

Prior to Maison Margiela, Marni was one of OTB group's fastest growing high-end brands in China. Marni entered the Chinese market in 2006, and Stefano Biondo, the former CEO, began to increase the Chinese market after taking office in 2018. At the most radical moment, he opened more than 10 stores in a short period of time.

At present, he has appointed several ambassadors for famous people and brands of leather goods, but has not carried out sales for Chinese traditional brands. Jil sander has attracted a large number of young Chinese consumers' attention in recent years due to its logo sweater and T-shirt. The OTB group said Jil sander broke even nine months after the acquisition.

As of December 2021, OTB group has opened 80 single brand stores in 16 cities in China. According to the development plan, this number will double in the next three years.

As of December 31, 2021, OTB group's turnover increased by 16.2% to 1.53 billion euro, and the revenue of luxury business composed of brands such as Marni and Maison Margiela increased by 18% to 1.456 billion euro. Renzo Rosso, the chief executive, had previously said it had plans to list the group in recent years in order to obtain more funds to promote the development of its brand.

As for why they chose to open four brand flagship stores in Shanghai this time, Diego menarin, chief executive officer of OTB Asia Pacific region, also gave a clear reply: "The reason why we chose Shanghai is that it is well-known all over the world for its well-developed commerce and commerce. Especially the Nanjing West Road business circle, it is no less than other famous luxury gathering areas in the world, such as Milan, Paris, London and New York. Therefore, Shanghai has become the preferred place for us to enter the Chinese market."

And choosing to let the flagship stores of the four major brands open at the same time also proves the OTB group's confidence and determination in the Chinese market. In the future, OTB group will carry out more projects in China, form a young team, accelerate the layout of the Chinese market, and hope to double the number of stores in China within two years.

OTB group says "create an Italian version of LVMH". All kinds of signs indicate that OTB group is moving towards a giant luxury group and enhancing its comprehensive influence as a group. Whether the group can continue to expand the group's influence on the layout of China's market deserves further exploration.