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Fashion’s carousel of creative directors has been relentless in recent months. Former Blumarine designer Nicola Brognano is stepping off it.
Rather than taking on another creative director role, Brognano — who departed Blumarine in October 2023 after four years with the Italian house — has partnered with Shanghai-based consulting agency Envision to produce a limited-edition capsule collection. The 50-piece capsule, which includes jackets, trousers, dresses and tops, in the €250 to €1,600 price range, is made using a new manufacturing and production model designed to lessen the risk for upstart brands, according to Envision founder Laura Darmon.
Envision takes on the initial costs of production for designers and guarantees retail space across eight ENG Concept Stores in China. Collaborators — the idea is to have a rotating cast of contributing designers — receive a percentage of sales, split with Envision. By removing barriers to production, which often require large minimum orders, the framework affords designers the freedom to “test the market”, whether that’s established names (like Brognano) with a strong global consumer base, or emerging ones.
“When Envision approached me with this idea, I really had time to think about the collaboration. It is a new way of working for me — in general I was used to being involved in all aspects but this time the process is really different. It’s a new, more modern way to work in the era of social,” Brognano explains.
Another piece of the offering is access to Darmon’s network of buyers, accrued from over a decade in the industry, which includes H Lorenzo, Gr8, Printemps and KM20. When the campaign launches on 20 September, selected buyers will have priority access to purchase the pieces. Additional stores can apply to purchase under Envision’s approval. It only works with distinctive, niche retailers who are spread across markets to avoid oversaturation.
Independent designers are up against a rocky and weakened wholesale environment, as well as a tougher landscape in China. Previously the world’s luxury hotbed, Yoox Net-a-Porter Group exited the country in June, followed by the shuttering of niche retailer Machine-A’s Shanghai outpost. Elsewhere, e-tailer Farfetch narrowly avoided bankruptcy at the end of 2023, while UK-based Matches closed in April of 2024. Against this volatile backdrop, challenges are mounting for emerging brands.
“The wholesale model is clearly in a crisis, reflecting the difficult economic situation in most luxury market countries such as China, Europe and the US, which is additionally in an election year — never a good moment for luxury buying,” explains Sophie Brocart, CEO of Patou, who, as a mentor in the LVMH Prize, knows first hand the issues independent brands face. When online wholesale partners have issues or disappear, this leaves many emerging brands with the catastrophe of unpaid invoices, which can be crippling.
Direct-to-consumer sales can help make up the difference, though brands need to have a certain level of sales to be able to finance these channels. Brocart says more brands are coming to market with made-to-order models or limited-run collections from leftover fabrics or upcycled products. “Although it’s not easy to scale these models, it’s a way to skip wholesale, at the beginning at least,” she says.
Envision is another alternative, “conceived to help brands and designers in this challenging economic environment”, Darmon says on a phone call from Paris.
Darmon chose Brognano as Envision’s first designer because of his track record. Designed over Zoom — an entirely new process for the Italian, who is used to being physically involved in every step — the collection is a step up from his previous work at Blumarine, he says. “Consumption habits are changing. When there is a lot of choice, the price has to be lower but the quality still has to be high. We need balance,” he says.
By concentrating production and sampling in China, Darmon hopes to illustrate that the region can be a powerhouse for high-quality production, without contribution from celebrated countries like Italy. Brognano, for one, is impressed: “Trust me, when I saw the first prototypes, I thought, even in Italy, it’s rare to have this kind of quality.”
Exclusivity, control and small quantities are other novel factors at play here. Darmon says that contractually, items can’t be sold at discount. “We see so many retailers and showrooms over distributing brands and then the next season they are out due to overproduction, oversaturation and price discounts. We are being really picky with production, making less pieces but with better quality.”
This inverted strategy of listening to the market via feedback from Darmon and her network of buying contemporaries — Envision’s roster of buyers around the world offer market insights and feedback — and helping to produce minimum high-quality orders at low prices aims to address one of the industry’s pain points. Xochitl West, buying director at US-based retail store H Lorenzo, signals to the problem of over distribution affecting businesses — especially in the same area. This happens “due to brands having to meet certain quantities for production”, which means they end up “distributing everywhere, causing overlaps”.
West thinks Envision’s exclusive approach will work well, adding that “only certain stores will have the collection, so it will be more special. Also, prices won’t be as high and quality will be top.” Approved buyers will have access through the Envision business-to-business platform, while the collection will retail at worldwide selected stores and retail exclusively on consignment at various ENG Concept stores across China. Still, West points out that since this model is a form of limited capsule, “finding the right balance of products that will fit every retailer” will be the biggest challenge.
Brocart’s positive verdict on Envision’s capability to support emerging designers is encouraging. She thinks it allows them to foreground creativity while still offering a product that is “well made at a competitive retail price” and without having to focus on the time-consuming areas of production and sales. “And in today’s world, it’s difficult for them to command a price too close to an established luxury brand — even if the products are often made in the same factories or at least the same countries.”
For Brognano, the best part is having the creative freedom to show to the client what he is after Blumarine. “It’s really a way for me to test the market and I’m curious to see what they make of it.”
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