The Italian fashion and lifestyle brand, owned since 2021 by L Catterton, has teamed up with Turkish real estate group Rams Global and Italian luxury furniture specialist Oniro for a first project of luxury residences in the Turkish capital’s business district. Other projects of the same type are expected to follow around the world.
Italian charm combined with the charm of ancient Byzantium, now Constantinople and Istanbul. Etro to open luxury residences in the Turkish capital.
Italian fashion and luxury brands such as Armani have long been investing in interiors with their Home collections. Many others, such as Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana and Missoni, are also venturing into the hotel and real estate sectors, imitated by brands of other nationalities…
First steps in real estate
Etro is taking its first steps into real estate.
The Italian luxury house, which will be acquired by the Franco-American fund L Catterton in 2021, has teamed up with two partners, the Turkish real estate group Rams Global and the Italian luxury furniture supplier Oniro, to carry out the “ Etro Residences Istanbul ” project.
Etro will design 37 of the 40 floors of the future luxury residence, due to open in the second half of 2026, in the Malask business district in the European part of Istanbul, with a panoramic view of the mythical and majestic Bosphorus. In each 2,000 m2 space, La Maison Transalpine will design the interiors and common areas.
For its part, Oniro Group will create and supply products for the Etro Home Interiors collection, including furniture and fully customized elements.
A collaboration destined to expand
This first site will be the first in a collaboration between Etro and Rams Global, who plan to open similar sites in other countries.
“ The aim is to extend our collaboration with ETRO beyond Turkey and into the global market,” says Devran Bülbül, President of RAMS Turkey. Fabrizio Cardinali, CEO of ETRO, added that this new “partnership with RAMS GLOBAL marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration to promote the reputation and equity of a brand with an extraordinary heritage and an innovative, far-sighted spirit”.
With this new project , ETRO is further expanding its lifestyle territory.
Founded in 1968 by Gerolamo Etro, originally a fabric manufacturer, ETRO has gradually evolved into a global brandcomprising ready-to-wear, accessories, fragrances, household linen and decorative items, with its famous paisley motif as part of its DNA.
In recent seasons, ETRO has launched an eyewear collection, a perfume license and a range of children’s clothing, ETRO Kids, to complement its existing men’s and women’s models.
The means to achieve its ambitions
The brand has given itself the means to achieve its ambitions. At the end of 2023, it announced a capital increase of 15 million euros by its main shareholder L Catterton. This was to finance the major investments planned as part of the overall recovery project initiated at the end of 2021.
L Catterton became Etro’s majority shareholder (60%) in July 2021. The four heirs to the company and children of the brand’s founder, Ippolito, Jacopo, Kean and Veronica Etro, still hold the remaining 40%.
Since the arrival of L Catterton and the subsequent appointment of a new CEO, Fabrizio Cardineli, followed in May 2022 by a new Creative Director, Marco De Vincenzo (ex Fendi), Etro has undergonea reorganizationof its processes (logistics and distribution) and a strategic repositioning. The aim was to better match the company’s product offering, improve its image and enhance its digital commitment…
At the time of its acquisition by L Catterton, Etro had 140 single-brand stores worldwide.
In 2022, ETRO’s sales grew by 17% to 277 million euros, but with a loss of 23.6 million euros. In the same year, the CEO set his sights on sales of 500 million euros over the next five years.
A new standard in luxury real estate
For Devran Bülbül (RAMS Turkey), the new partnership embodied by this first project with ETRO “not only represents a new global perspective on the real estate market, but also sets a new standard for collaborations with luxury brands”. In his eyes, “the union between ETRO’s excellent design and RAMS GLOBAL’s avant-garde, combined with its 36 years of experience, will make the branded real estate sector even more modern and innovative.”
For his part, Moreno Brambilla, CEO of the ONIRO Group, spoke of “a successful new chapter” in its “expansion strategy in branded residences ”. He explained that he and his teams were “very proud” of “the partnership established with ETRO, excellence in Made in Italy fashion, and RAMS GLOBAL, one of the world’s leading and fastest-growing real estate groups”. He concluded: “When three partners of this calibre meet and work together, you can only expect magic…”.
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Read also > L Catterton to recapitalize Etro
Featured Photo: © Etro
