Drumohr’s New Milan Store Hints at Brand’s Knitwear-to-Lifestyle Transformation
MILAN — Knit specialist Drumohr is among the newly installed tenants of Milan’s sprawling Spiga 26 development by Hines, which has already welcomed the boutiques of Moschino, Sergio Rossi and Borsalino.
The store — officially opening this week — marks a relocation for the brand’s flagship, previously housed on Via Manzoni, but also a milestone as Drumohr is plotting its next phase of growth, with a stronger push on womenswear, hospitality, home décor and more in the pipeline.
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Covering 3,400 square feet over two stories, the store’s walls are decked in colorful wallpaper bearing the brand’s signature Razor Blade motif, contrasting with the midcentury displays and furniture (shelves recall design guru Franco Albini’s “Infinito” bookcase).
A staircase inspired by Gio Ponti’s “La Scala del Sapere” at the University of Padua combines polychrome marbles and connects the ground floor dedicated to womenswear and the lower story where the men’s collection, expanded over the years to include a total look, is on display. It was named Random Stairs after a mixed-height striped sweater in the Drumohr collection.
Wallpapers were developed under license with Turin-based Agena, a venture introduced in 2022 that also entails the production and distribution of textiles.
The move suggests the company’s ambitions to become a lifestyle proposition.
For instance, womenswear was introduced two years ago but “it has proven to cover a gap in the market,” said Michele Ciocca, the company’s president. It embraces the dandy flair of Drumohr’s men’s collections with timeless yet colorful gear.
The brand has already opened a dedicated corner at Rinascente and expanded its Turin store to accommodate the lineup.
Menswear currently represents 70 percent of total sales, amounting to 12.5 million euros in 2022. Revenues were up 18 percent versus a year earlier and Ciocca expects to grow in the lower double-digit range also this year to 14 million euros, fueled also by the newly established children’s wear license with La Stupenderia. The collection will bow for fall 2023.
After expanding its retail footprint in Italy in 2022, with new Rinascente corners and a new flagship in Rome, the executive mentioned that the next steps would entail taking Drumohr on the road.
“Our efforts are now geared at our international presence, with Paris and London on the horizon and part of our retail target by 2024,” he said. No deal has materialized yet for a store in those two cities.
The brand is largely dependent on wholesale, with 450 doors distributing its menswear collection and 300 for womenswear. It has a strong footprint in Italy and Japan, where the company has had a couple of distributors over the years.
“When I joined the company in 2006, Japan was barely anything, but I think they are particularly drawn to Made in Italy,” the president said. The company operates corners at Isetan Shinjuku, Haneda Airport in Tokyo and at Hankyu in Osaka.
As it expands its fashion product categories to diversify beyond its core knitwear business, which represents about 40 percent of sales, the company has also grasped the opportunity to branch out in hospitality.
The Blade Suite short-lettings apartments opening on Milan’s Corso Como will be decked in Drumohr’s wallpapers, to be handled by a real estate partner that may also take the concept of branded condos to other locations it operates in Italy.
“We’re starting to sense a possibility to make our foray in hospitality,” Ciocca said, adding a collection of porcelain was also already developed in-house.
Drumohr is part of the Gruppo Ciocca holding company, which operates sock businesses Ciocca and Sozzi, as well as knitwear brands Rossopuro and Heritage.
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