MILAN — Known for its offering hinged on the Neapolitan sartorial tradition that has generated loyal customers among tourists in Capri and the Amalfi coast, womenswear brand Amina Rubinacci is furthering its presence in the U.S. with a new flagship store on New York’s Madison Avenue.
“We’ve been present in the U.S. for a long time now; my mother was and is known as the mastermind behind the knit blazers, which have become our hero product garnering fans especially from American clients traveling to Capri,” said Alessandro Spada, chief executive officer of the company and the son of founder Rubinacci.
When Davide Cenci, a longtime stockist of the brand, moved out of its storied location at 17 East 67th Street on the corner of Madison Avenue, the Italian brand took advantage of the premium spot and strong customer base to open its first flagship store in Manhattan.
You May Also Like
The store, which boasts two street front windows, has a minimalist interior, with parquet flooring and cream walls featuring racks to display clothing and accessories.
“We are banking on retail and flagship stores because they allow us to express our identity more consistently and coherently,” Spada said.
The brand, established by the namesake designer and entrepreneur in 1968 off of her family’s legacy in textiles, entered the U.S. market seven years ago, developing a strong footprint in wholesale with about 50 retailers before opening flagship stores. These include units in Palm Beach, Fla., Charlotte, N.C., Greenwich, Conn., Washington, D.C., and Portland, Ore., between directly operated and franchises.
“We have never really approached the big department stores and favored instead specialty boutiques,” Spada explained.
Overall the company has 350 wholesale stockists globally, four franchised stores, and 16 directly operated monobrand boutiques in key locations including Milan, Rome and Capri in Italy; Geneva; London, and Moscow, among others.
“We are still a family-owned business, which is both our greatest strength and weakness. By maintaining a familiar and small size we can expand step by step without neglecting where we come from,” he said.
To this end the brand is already looking at its next expansion steps, having lined up openings in Vienna and Paris for 2025 and plans to consolidate its presence in Japan, where it leverages a longstanding partnership with local distributor Sanki that could eventually lead to the opening of monobrand units in the country.
The brand’s business is evenly split between retail and wholesale, the latter currently accounting for 60 percent of revenues, which in 2023 stood at 15 million euros. Spada expects a low-double-digit increase in 2024, driven by well-performing markets, including the U.K.
