MILAN — Don’t expect a solo retrospective at the K-Way exhibition to be unveiled Tuesday evening.
Staged at the Museo della Permanente in Milan with the brand’s fall 2025 fashion show, K-Way, whose name has become a synonym for the windbreaker, has involved other iconic brands whose trademarked monikers have long been associated with the products they offer, ranging from Bic pens and Borsalino hats to Moleskine notebooks and Post-it notes, to name a few.
“We thought it would be a more interesting way to celebrate the birthday, like a party with friends is more fun,” said chief executive officer Lorenzo Boglione. “We are all storied brands, and we all have so many interesting stories to tell. The risk of being self-referential is not one I want to run.”
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The “In Y/Our Life — The Hidden Side of Everyday Things” allows the brand to shine a light “on similar and parallel stories. It makes it easier to explain with analogies,” he contended.
K-Way has also involved a select group of artists in the project, spanning from Francesca Casale, Serafin Gerber and Koo Jeong-A to Eva Jospin, Patricia Urquiola and Olimpia Zagnoli.
Boglione underscored he sees this as a cultural project and there will be no dedicated capsule collection, but rather a series of collectors’ items will be available.
The exhibition will be divided into three sections. The first will be titled “Happy when it rains,” and will be dedicated to K-Way’s 60 years; the second section, “Everyday Icons,” will explore the archives of the partner brands, displaying prototypes, advertisements, historical objects and videos, while in the third section, titled “In Y/Our Life,” the 13 artists will reinterpret the partner brands’ symbolic objects.
For the first time, K-Way will hold a show during women’s fashion week. “We think this is the right platform for this anniversary project,” Boglione said.
The exhibition is “a way to promote culture, creativity and art, to celebrate those products that like K-Way have changed the daily life of people of various generations around the world,” Boglione said. “The exhibition is also a research and cultural in-depth study of what it means to realize products, dresses and objects that improve daily life.”
The reason behind the choice of Milan and the Permanente was “very simple: It’s a storied institution loved from the Milanese and this is a global project that, however, has solid roots where the brand is born, in France, and where it is managed today, in Italy.”
The exhibition will be itinerant, and, in the following months will open during Photo London in May, Frieze Seoul in September and Art Basel Paris in October.
In London, K-Way opened a store earlier this month, as the U.K. and Germany are “fundamental” markets for the brand, Boglione said. “Italy and France are solid markets, as is Benelux — the weather helps us there,” he said, smiling. However, the company is aiming to push the pedal on business in Asia, for example.
It can now rely on additional support from Permira Growth Opportunities II, which in October reached an agreement to buy a 40 percent stake in the French premium outerwear brand from BasicNet, led by the Boglione family.
BasicNet holds the remaining 60 percent stake. As per this agreement, K-Way’s enterprise value, including the IFRS 16 standard, is pegged at 505 million euros.
“Permira is a partner, but we are still very committed and engaged. This is a fund that invests on a growth project and it will help speed things up with quality and skills,” Boglione said.
Permira is expected to support K-Way’s growth across its channels, with a particular emphasis on direct-to-consumer avenues, opening new stores, expanding its product range, reinforcing the brand’s leadership in France and Italy, but also to grow internationally.
K-Way was founded in 1965 by Léon-Claude Duhamel in Paris and is known for its packable, category-defining waterproof jacket, the “Claude,” with its distinctive colorful zip and logo inspired by the French flag. It has established itself as an outdoor-inspired lifestyle brand.
The company was acquired by BasicNet in 2004 and since then has forged links with designer brands including Saint Laurent, Fendi and Comme des Garçons, to name a few, and introduced runway collections presented at its Milan BasicVillage, unveiled in 2022. It has also kicked off art partnerships and activations at Art Basel in Miami and Artissima in Turin, Italy.
The sons of BasicNet founder Marco Boglione, Alessandro and Lorenzo, hold the role of executive vice presidents of BasicNet and CEOs of K-Way.
BasicNet earlier this month reported consolidated preliminary 2024 revenues of 409.2 million euros, up 3.1 percent from 396.8 million euros in 2023.
This included direct sales of 346.8 million euros, up 4.2 percent on 2023, and royalties from commercial and production licensees of 60.9 million euros, a 2.2 percent decrease.
