Up-to-Date Tradition The heart of a hippie meets modern

IL BISONTE UP-TO-DATE TRADITION

Since the takeover of Il Bisonte by Palamon Capital Partners, the Tuscan brand’s leather bags and accessories have developed into modern lifestyle pieces under the careful management of CEO Sofia Ciucchi. In an interview with style in progress, she reveals how the traditional brand is being promoted internationally while still preserving its ‘Made in Italy’ tradition, as well as how it is made attractive for new target groups. Text: Kay Alexander Plonka. Photos: Il Bisonte

What is the status in terms of brand rejuvenation and awareness on an international level?

We’ve been working hard to “rekindle” the brand. In addition to our fundamental values, we are keen to present our “artisans with hippie hearts” identity in all areas - in our new showroom in the historic Palazzo Corsini in Florence and our new flagship store in Milan, for example. Our latest digital photo project (#1box10shots) has also been received very well. We have opted for remaining a niche brand with a marked personality. Nevertheless, we are becoming increasingly global by expanding distribution and investing in improving the quality of our sales process. In 2018, we completely renewed the corporate section of our website and invested in online sales. In 2019, we intend to launch a new e-commerce platform and to further strengthen our in-house digital team. Our sales growth over the last two years is already impressive: from 21.1 million Euros in 2016, to 27.2 million Euros in 2017. The sales forecast for 2018 is approx. 35 million Euros.

How has the design of the collection changed over the last two years?

Il Bisonte has always been a casual chic brand with unconventional design and solid traditions. Our leather handbags and accessories are an emblem of accessible and timeless luxury. Even our iconic products are still up-to-date. The seasonal collections are created by a young in-house design team and implemented in a traditional man

Sofia Ciucchi, the CEO of Il Bisonte, has managed to preserve traditions while increasing sales at the same time.

ner by our long-standing production staff. In 2019, we intend to shift our focus to the further development of our products for men.

What were the biggest challenges in the renewal process?

Definitely driving innovation forward without straying too far from tradition while remaining competitive in international comparison… It was equally challenging to maintain our extremely short supply chain consisting of more than 40 companies within a radius of 30 kilometres around our production, warehouse, and logistics facilities in eastern Florence - despite generating growth.

Apropos international expansion: What is the status quo since the takeover by Palamon Capital Partners?

In Europe, we opened two new mono-brand stores in Milan and Paris. We also re-designed all direct sales areas. In addition, we have established two new sales areas in Hong Kong - the first we manage ourselves in Asia. This is the start of further activities in the Chinese market. In Japan, we have been represented by our distribution partner for more than 30 years. The more than 40 mono-brand stores in that country account for 50 percent of our sales. Growth rates in Korea are also above average. We intend to open our own store in New York in February. And last autumn we re-established a corner at Bergdorf Goodman. Towards the end of the year, an Il Bisonte store in Los Angeles will open its doors to the public. However, we are primarily interested in co-operating with established department and multi-brand stores.

What about the positioning of Il Bisonte in the German-speaking market?

Sales in this area have grown considerably in the last two years, now representing almost 14 percent of our wholesale turnover. In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, we are exclusively represented at multi-brand retailers. This year, we intend to further increase our sales in the most important cities by means of branded sales areas or pop-up stores. We firmly believe that our high-quality products are particularly suited for the German-speaking market.

Timeless and beautiful: Il Bisonte’s bags impress with their perfect workmanship and outstanding leather quality.