Scotch & Soda opens first directly operated Italian store, plans Covent Garden flagship

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 23, 2022

Scotch & Soda is continuing its European expansion plans and has just opened its first directly operated store in Italy. It’s located on Milan’s Via Alessandro Manzoni, one of the main fashion retail destinations in the heart of the city. 

The company said that the opening of the flagship is an important step in its retail expansion, adding a fifth physical location in Italy but also seeing it take the leap into operating directly in the country. And its wholesale network will also expand in the second half of this year with the opening of nine concessions in La Rinascente stores, including in Milan, Turin, Cagliari and Palermo. 

Scotch & Soda will continue to expand its directly operated store network in the second half, with additional openings in Europe, including a flagship in London’s Covent Garden in August, as well as new locations in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, and Denmark. 

The new Milan shop covers 185 sq m across two floors and offers womenswear, menswear and kidswear, as well as its denim, footwear, eyewear and fragrance lines.

The façade makes the most of the building’s Milanese traditional architecture with a contemporary design featuring the brand’s new logo. 

Inside, the label’s ‘Free Spirit’ in-store design concept, launched in March last year, can be seen. It mixes warm colours with sleek furniture and design. And there are sustainable elements such as LED lighting, FSC wood herringbone flooring and new hangers made of recycled materials. Special features include a wall light fixture spelling out ‘The free spirit of Amsterdam’, and a digital screen displaying the brand’s current collections. 

CEO Frederick Lukoff said the opening “strengthens our footprint in Italy, a key market that we see as full of potential. It represents a great opportunity to reach new local and international customers in a prestigious location, and to introduce them to our brand, inspired by the free spirit of Amsterdam”.