Speeding (legally) on the motorway from Milan to Lugano in a Mercedes G full of panettoni and samples , Philipp Plein hands-free check to update pre-drop. We shifted focus almost immediately: Ground coverage includes new store openings in Family Life, Qatar (today), Frankfurt Airport (tomorrow), Brazil (last week), and ten other locations in the coming months (these are for Plein Sport). Overall, the company’s wholesale business grew the fastest, while the online business was in line with 2021 pandemic-driven growth, Plein said. Next year, there will be a big rollout in South America and the opening of a new store on New York’s Spring Street. The Plein show, originally scheduled for February in New York, will be rescheduled for September.
We must enter autumn early. It goes without saying that this is a heavy paisley collection, following summer’s heavy petal Hawaiian florals. “It’s a general trend. You see it all the time in fashion brands, like Dior, and of course Etro is always combined with it. Obviously you can’t reinvent it, but we did it in our own way.” Beaded coat Embellishments, embroidery on ripped denim, studs on bags and leather garments, prints on silk—sometimes full looks—plus sneakers, which, as Plein said, were his theme this season. The most obvious plein-ification appears on basketball vests, whose teardrop-shaped seedling decorations are planted to form patterns of house skulls.
Elsewhere emphasis is placed on menswear and womenswear eveningwear with classic influences, often seen on new shoe designs with metal toe caps embedded in the shape of the heel. “People are dancing and partying again,” Plein said, “so it’s a response to what we’ve heard that they want to party. You know, right now, I think like a retailer. Advance payments are usually a % or more. We hope to do well again next year. Excited.” We cut off the phone as he entered the tunnel and kept our eyes on the road ahead.
2021
