Furla’s Eraldo Poletto: ‘We’re ready to relaunch, starting with our product’

On Friday, Septembe 26, in the midst of Milan Fashion Week, Furla, Fondazione Furla and GAM – Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Milano celebrated the opening of “Under the Sun, Beyond the Skin”, a solo exhibition by Sara Enrico curated by Bruna Roccasalva.

The installation in the gardens of Villa Reale was designed to open up new possibilities for interaction between contemporary art, the natural landscape and public space. Taking the duality between nature and artifice as her starting point, Enrico has created “a landscape within the landscape” through a series of sculptures that “inhabit” the garden, creating a subtle tension between the plant world and an idea of synthetic vitality—between what arises spontaneously and what results from a deliberate act.

The event gave FashionNetwork.com the opportunity to explore Furla’s upcoming projects with CEO Eraldo Poletto, who returned just over a year ago to the helm of the company—which he had already led from 2010 to 2016—to help it put a difficult period behind it.

“The initial priority was to get the company out of the CNC procedure and establish a degree of operational and financial stability. We are now ready for a relaunch built around the product and our communications—particularly social media—to reach a younger audience,” Poletto explained. “In terms of product, I am convinced that the right strategy is to focus on a small number of iconic pieces that account for around 40 per cent of sales. We are working to make our new Iride model a must-have, as the Metropolis was in the past. We tested it in selected stores in December and the response was encouraging. In addition, we need to continue evolving into a lifestyle brand, broadening categories such as eyewear and jewellery, which we already offer.”

At MFW, Furla also unveiled a limited-edition of the Iride, reimagined with distinctive materials and striking details, such as studs and teddy-effect fabric.

On the commercial front, Poletto cited EMEA, Japan and South-East Asia as markets on which Furla will focus energy and resources in the near future.

“In addition, we will focus on e-commerce, which already accounts for a double-digit share of sales, and which we want to strengthen further,” he added.

Conversely, no new openings are planned in the near future for the brand, which already has over 150 mono-brand stores (alongside an extensive wholesale network): “We are in the process of defining a new store concept; our goal is to optimise the network we already have, which is why we have also closed underperforming stores,” the manager explained.

“On pricing, we have slightly widened the base of the pyramid and are focusing on a premium tier, with an average price of around €350. Our aim is for our products to have a perceived value that exceeds their actual price,” Poletto concluded.

“Today, the market offers many opportunities for premium brands; we need to ride this momentum.”