Brandwatch: Canali

Canali

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More than a quarter of a century after entering the UK market, the Italian tailoring brand is shaking up its business.

Classic Italian tailoring brand Canali's UK business is entering a new phase. From next spring, the brand will sell its collections of men's premium, classic tailoring and casualwear in-house, having built up the business via agent Keith Horsley over the past 27 years.

Canali has a new 2,200sq ft showroom in London's Vigo Street and a new head of sales, Julian Manning – who joined the business from Burberry in January. Manning has been charged with overseeing the growth of the brand in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Head of marketing and communications Elisabetta Canali says: "We were restructuring our operation at all levels and taking sales in-house is the kind of thing that happens when a company is still growing. Canali has customers that are still buying from us after 27 years, and we can pick up new customers."

The brand says the UK is one of its most important European markets. It has about 60 stockists in the UK and Republic of Ireland, including London's Harrods and Selfridges, and Louis Copeland and Brown Thomas in Dublin. It also has one franchise store on Bond Street in London.
Globally, Canali has more than 1,000 stockists in 80 countries including the US, Europe and Asia. There are plans to open more stores in these markets, but the brand also likes to take advantage of strategic marketing opportunities. Its profile will be raised further via a deal to dress the European Ryder Cup golf team for its official appearances at this September's tournament and for the 2010 event. Canali will also supply trousers for the team to wear on the course.

According to Manning, the distribution was well developed by previous agent Horsley, but there are still a few gaps in the north-east and Scotland is under-represented.

For spring 09, Canali is retaining its focus on quality and interesting fabrics with cotton, linen and silk mixes, along with metallics and micro-geometric shapes.

For its spring 09 collection the brand features some of its most contemporary looks. Silhouettes are softer and slimmer, with shorter jackets, narrow lapels and 2sb styles dominating, all of which provides a younger look to sit alongside the brand's core classic styling.
The brand has also steadily built its offer to include more than just formal styles. Elisabetta Canali says: "It's an important global brand and we want to take it to the next level in the UK. We have been expanding the casualwear offer and it's becoming more important to a lot of retailers."
Outerwear includes bomber jackets, shorter-length trench coats, lightweight field jackets, and reversible jackets in technical fabrics.
Luxury is a core part of the brand's DNA, and this spring is no different. "Quality is the most important factor. Price is not an issue if the product is good value," says Canali.

Canali 020 7851 7040 www.canali.it 

Essentials
80: Number of countries Canali sells in
27: Number of years the brand has been selling in the UK
60: Number of accounts in the UK and Republic of Ireland