Pinko debuts retail plan for Uniqueness

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Oct 15, 2012

Uniqueness - the ready-to-wear womens line belonging to the Italian group Cris Conf (Pinko) – is taking flight. The line which is designed by Alessandra Fachinetti, former designer at Valentino and Gucci, will no longer be exclusively sold online. For their third collection the brand is venturing into the ‘real world’ after having tested the waters with a three-day pop-up event on London’s South Molten Street. After proving to be a success, the brand has decided to continue with their offline distribution in an original way. Uniqueness’ collections will now be available at various pop-up locations in major cities for time periods ranging from a week to a month maximum.

The journey started this Thursday in Milan with a 170m²store on the city’s prestigious via Montenapoleone. The store will be open until 10th November, with Alessandra Fachinetti being present for one day per week. The entire collection will be available with various colours and style options, as well as one-off accessory pieces. “In London we were not allowed to display our logo. People would come in after seeing the clothes in the window and were shopping as if we had always been around. The success of the event made us realise that our actual customers are much more open than the market when faced with a new and exciting project like Uniqueness,” said the designer. After Milan, the store will open in Paris.
Uniqueness was launched last year as an experimental project. The same “work in progress” approach can be seen through the brands website www.uniqueness.com. Each week the designer creates a new theme on the site; for example “Blue China” or “Nylon Effects” etc. Users of the site are able to send in images as inspiration for the collection. Thanks to this feature the designer is able to come into contact with young artists with whom she can collaborate with for future collections.
“Uniqueness explores the world of today by offering a different point of view. It’s all about reciprocal confrontation. This experience has lead me to be more sensitive to changes and stimulations that come from the outside,” explains Alessandra Fachinetti. The internet has also allowed the brand to better understand the taste of its clientele, therefore pushing them to create more dresses, shirts and trousers.

The collections are available from the day they are unveiled on an e-shop available in four languages (Italian, English, French and German) which can be found on brands official site. The collections are sold across Europe principally in Italy (60%), but with 10% of sales in France and 8% in the UK. Some items are also for sale in Pinko stores across the world. The line, consisting of about 50 pieces, is entirely manufactured in Italy and controlled by the Pinko head offices in Fidenza, near to Parma. Prices start at €80 for smaller garments and reach up to €650 for dresses.