Givenchy Accelerates U.S. Growth, Opens Downtown Store in SoHo
Marking an acceleration of retail growth in the U.S., Givenchy has opened its first downtown location in New York’s SoHo neighborhood.
Located at 94 Greene Street, the 3,500-square-foot boutique is the brand’s sixth freestanding location in the Americas and the first to open in four years. It also marks Givenchy’s second Manhattan location, the first being at 625 Madison Avenue.
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The new shop, which is situated between Y-3 and Jil Sander, has neighbors such as Bottega Veneta, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Alice + Olivia, Chloe, and Herno. The shop quietly opened June 15.
“We are excited to be opening our new Greene Street store and second Manhattan boutique,” said Renaud de Lesquen, chief executive officer of Givenchy. “A key destination for luxury, SoHo’s vibrant retail neighborhood will give us the opportunity to serve our ever-growing client base. This opening represents a new chapter for Givenchy as we continue to scale our business in the U.S. and internationally.”
The business in the U.S. has been strong since the arrival of creative director Matthew M. Williams in June 2020. A return to dressing up has brought significant momentum to both its women’s ready-to-wear and handbags. Givenchy’s men’s business continues to deliver positive comparative sales on top of a very strong performance in 2021.
Givenchy expects the SoHo store to be among its top units in the U.S. and anticipates that it will enable the brand to expand its client base to incorporate more local New York customers as well as tourists who seek out the SoHo experience.
The store carries the full women’s and men’s ready-to-wear and accessories collections, and debuts exclusive capsules and made-to-order programs. The store opened with Givenchy’s fall 2022 pre-collection and a product assortment featuring Williams’ signature sharp tailoring, denim and other easy wardrobing pieces for summer.
The season’s statement accessories include the new TK-360, an innovative sneaker in all-over technical mesh that has started out very strongly, and other signature accessories such as the Antigona lock bag, 4G leather bag and Kenny bags, each with hardware featuring the house’s signature 4G emblem, which also appears on key design elements throughout the store. Givenchy expects to see a continuation of the strong development of its women’s handbag business which has been driving growth for the brand over the last year and a half.
The SoHo store is the first in the U.S. to feature the brand’s latest retail concept. The design leverages contrasting tones and materials — sharp and soft, matte and rough, and industrial and natural. The store is designed in a natural stone-gray palette, referencing the light gray and soft stone color of the streets of SoHo and the neighborhood’s historical buildings.
The two-level boutique features a ground floor dedicated primarily to accessories. Upon entering the shop, one is greeted by women’s and men’s handbags, including the G Tote shopping bags with Givenchy Paris lettering, followed by shoes. A lilac box, alluding to the brand’s Madison Avenue concept store on 59th Street, houses a selection of accessories, and provides a pop of color to the neutral space.
Ready-to-wear is situated in a salon at the back of the space, and there’s a stairwell to the downstairs rtw salon and denim destination. A skylight doubles the ceiling height and amplifies the entire space with natural light.
Punctuated throughout the space are sculptures conceived in collaboration with British artist Ewan McFarlane. Positioned like freestanding artwork in a gallery, the mannequins appear in surprising poses and positions, and showcase various looks.
The SoHo location plans to have a summer treat station outside the boutique for the next two weekends in July to engage with passersby, and Givenchy is planning a grand opening in September during fashion week.
In addition to Madison Avenue and SoHo, Givenchy has freestanding stores in the U.S. in Aventura, Florida, Miami Design District, Las Vegas Wynn, and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California. The next store openings for the brand will be in Atlanta and Philadelphia.
Overall, the luxury brand has 100 stores globally.
Givenchy’s business tends to be split evenly between men’s and women’s, as in the environment in the new store. The French luxury brand has seen momentum in its women’s footwear business, led by its Shark Lock Boot in several variations, as well as women’s rtw, which has continued to build over the last year. Givenchy’s menswear business continues to be a combination of luxury streetwear mixed with sophisticated tailoring.
As reported, Williams staged his first dedicated menswear show last month since his arrival. He was among the leading European brands uncoupling from coed shows to give menswear a bigger spotlight.
In other news at Givenchy, the house has unveiled a limited-edition capsule collection featuring characters from Disney’s 1961 animated film “101 Dalmatians.” The collection is accompanied by custom animation created by Walt Disney Animation Studios featuring a special appearance by supermodel Kate Moss.
Designed by Williams in collaboration with Disney, the Disney x Givenchy 101 Dalmatians capsule spans women’s and men’s rtw, bags, shoes, small leather accessories and fashion jewelry.
For women, signature separates in light pink, black and white include a T-shirt with puppies climbing through Givenchy lettering, a print of Cruella De Vil sauntering by the windows of the Givenchy headquarters in Paris, and a black-and-white varsity jacket bearing a portrait of Perdita wearing a G-Lock collar, an homage to the Love Locks adorning the bridges of Paris.
For men, a black, white and red palette showcases a stern-looking Pongo, also with a G-Lock, separates with black or white spots, and tailored black suiting with a U-Lock closure and white accents in a more casual vein. Ripped and repaired denim pieces feature Dalmatian-like black spots.
As for accessories, leather collar necklaces fastened with G-Locks, wallets, card holders, and caps printed with favorite characters, a Pongo cross body bag and a black backpack with a castle silhouette are among the offerings. Women’s footwear ranges from slides to high and low tops mingling with the 4G emblem with Perdita and her pups rounding out the lineup.
Statement jewelry in silver-finish brass and enamel include heart-shaped rings, earrings and pendants.
Prices for “101 Dalmatians” range from $400 to $4,200 for rtw; $230 to $1,665 for accessories, and $335 to $575 for jewelry.
The capsule starting going into select locations July 1. It will be carried in the Madison Avenue location, but not the new SoHo store.
To further the creative storytelling between Givenchy and “101 Dalmatians,” the custom animated short features the pups on a fanciful adventure through the streets of Paris. The animation culminates at Givenchy on the Avenue George V where the dalmatians, accompanied by Williams and Moss, admire the collection displayed in the store windows. Their moment of bliss is briefly interrupted by a surprise appearance by De Vil, but she quickly flees after Pongo and Perdita stand their ground with a protective growl.
“To have the opportunity to tell a story and create new animation with the characters from ‘101 Dalmatians,’ through the imaginative and playful lens of the house of Givenchy, was an absolute dream. It was a true delight to collaborate with such talented creators to bring these beloved characters back to life in such a unique way,” said Eric Goldberg, the Disney director and 2D animator.
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