The New Boutique Extends the Copenhagen-Based Brand’s International Expansion
Danish fashion house Ganni will unveil its latest flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York City. The location is set to be the brand’s fifth storefront in the city and its 25th store across the U.S., reflecting further international expansion as exemplified by its successful Paris Fashion Week debut.
Ganni’s other stores in NYC include SoHo, Flatiron District, Bleecker Street, and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. CEO Laura du Rusquec expressed her delight at finally covering the high-end Upper East Side of Manhattan, looking forward to broadening the fashion house’s customer base. “Madison Avenue has a reach not only for New York Uptown clients, but also has a reach for international tourism that we’d like to catch. It sounded like an obvious choice for us,” she said in a phone interview.
The Madison Avenue store, boasting 2,280 square feet of space, is an embodiment of Ganni’s vision of modern luxury wrapped in a homey ambiance. The area is popular among noteworthy brands such as Reformation, Agnès b, Veronica Beard, and Barbour.
Exuding a sense of refined minimalistic elegance, the store features carefully selected artworks and bespoke golden brass cladding across the facade. Furniture and props, designed using materials like recycled rubber and plastic, align with the company’s commitment to fostering a more responsible fashion industry. Stockholm-based architectural firm Stamuli was behind the store’s design. As a certified B Corporation, Ganni is keen on promoting sustainable fashion.
“We see Madison as a flagship for us. What could happen in the future would be potentially relocating to have bigger stores, but I think in terms of number of stores [in New York] I think we’re covered,” du Rusquec reported.
Since entering retail in the U.S. in 2019, Ganni has grown relentlessly, making America its largest market. “We see a very nice connection between our brand equity and our U.S. client base, and there is room for us to expand in the U.S.,” commented du Rusquec.
While other notable cities like Los Angeles, Miami, Austin, and Houston are already graced by the brand’s presence, Ganni has plans to launch in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Las Vegas next year. Globally, Ganni has a total of 75 stores. Both malls and on-street units are considered for store locations, depending on the city and its client base.
The Madison Avenue store will serve as a feature stage, hosting events and displaying the brand’s products in bolder ways, including strong emphasis on accessories and runway collections. “We see the Madison store as the window of this new trajectory that we’ve been working on in the past month,” stated the CEO. She described the Ganni Woman as bold, creative, and progressively minded, values that echo in the design ethos of the brand. “She’s bold, she’s creative, she’s confident and progressively minded. She has her own personal style, and can go from luxury to premium to pre-loved. She just owns her own style and she creates her own look, and she’s an advocate of positive change. She has new ideas and is value-led,” she described.
Even though Ganni’s clients may not choose to shop there primarily because it’s a B Corp, in commitment to environment sustainability, they are drawn in and feel reaffirmed because of its responsible values and approach, CEO explained.
The new store will feature Ganni’s main collections, as well as limited-edition pieces such as a Ganni X New Balance sneaker collab which launched on Nov. 20. To celebrate its New York location, the store will also offer a custom blue-striped long-sleeve polo shirt with “NYC” embroidered on the back, retailing at $235.
Adding a personal touch to the shopping experience, Ganni Madison Avenue will be offering complimentary embossing of initials for customers purchasing a Bou bag in-store, alongside hosting free personal shopping appointments during the opening weekend.
Emphasizing the brand’s Danish heritage and its commitment to sustainability, the store design includes bespoke furniture and recycled materials. The brand is expecting handbags to be a major hit at the Madison Avenue store, as they plan on a larger handbag display than their other locations. “We really hope that given the proper space and the visibility to our handbags, they will be a point of focus in the store,” said the CEO.
The new location, alongside being a potential hotspot for New York City’s high-end clients, could also capture the attention of the international tourist audience. Mainstay collections of the brand will be displayed and sold in the store, including fall and holiday lines. Accessories are deemed to get significant visibility in this new location as they account for about 30% of the business worldwide. Principal pieces from Ganni include the Bou bag made from recycled leather and the popular Buckle ballerina flats.
In addition to independent stores, Ganni maintains a strong wholesale business presence across major retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bloomingdale’s. As of now, approximately 56% of Ganni’s business in the U.S. is direct-to-consumer and 44% is through wholesale. As a growing brand, the fashion house is also considering entering the Italian and Japanese markets in the coming year.
