Meet Darkpark, a Luxe Take on Workwear
MILAN — With all the “quiet luxury” talk and new take on tailoring seen on the catwalks in Milan and Paris this month, these are surely challenging times for streetwear and hype beasts.
Yet encouraging news come from Maurizio Purificato, cofounder of luxury Milan-based multibrand store Antonia, who after establishing high-end puffer maker Khrisjoy, has backed emerging label Darkpark.
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“It’s not like streetwear is over, it just moved from logos to speaking through volumes,” he noted. Good thing the women’s and men’s brand he cofounded with Inna Gerchikov in 2021 was already geared for this transition.
In fact, Darkpark started with a focused offering centered on oversized denim and cargo pants, which instantly garnered the attention of premium department stores and multibrand stores with their roomy silhouettes and eye-catching washes and treatments.
In less than four collections, the brand has expanded to more product categories and fine-tuned its vision of serving customers with a luxe take on workwear, gradually moving from flashy styles to a toned-down and even more elevated approach to the segment.
“If you analyze buyers’ requests, they are demanding more clean lines,” noted Purificato, underscoring how this inclination requires “for everything to be impeccable” product-wise. Hence, Darkpark further heightened the attention to details and the fabrications of its Made in Italy designs via the introduction of the likes of leather and Tencel, a natural fabric originated from wood.
“I really like start-ups, I like figuring out the direction a brand has to follow and I think we found the right evolution and path for this brand. We are much more coherent with our vision and can better communicate what Inna represents,” said Purificato.
The creative mind behind the label, Gerchikov is a self-confessed tomboy of Canadian origins, which largely influenced her passion for all things denim. This was reinforced during a two-year stay in Los Angeles, a city “that taught me everything on washes and denim culture,” she said.
When she moved to Milan in 2004, she set up a distribution business that bridged the distance between the U.S. and Italy as she brought in “the American brands I couldn’t find here,” specifically in the denim arena as well as in intimate apparel and accessories, such as Hanky Panky and G.H. Bass.
“During COVID-19 I had a lot time to think, and realized that the denim market was flat. It was all about skinny jeans and there was nothing that suited my taste,” said Gerchikov, who for years used to buy men’s jeans and pants, altering them to fit her slim figure. “I had the idea for a brand for years, but eventually it was born two years ago with Maurizio, who’s a man of action,” she added.
The label’s name wanted to evoke the unconventional, fun approach to pants, which at the beginning were heavier in stained, bleached, tie-dyed, distressed and sanded washes. Raw edge cuts, crystal panels, drawstrings, utility pockets and straps to cuff the bottoms were also part of the brand’s aesthetic.
“At the beginning we needed that ‘wow’ effect. And now that we’ve got that ‘wow-wow,’ we’re toning it down,” confirmed Gerchikov, who’s also committed to increasingly rounding out the offering.
To this end, the company tapped Marco Corso as head designer, bringing in-house “an incredible eye and know-how” in shirting and jackets, as Corso hails from Jil Sander.
Those two product categories — shirting and jackets — enabled Darkpark to offer a total look for spring 2024, delivering a collection marked by softer textures and monochrome pieces. Military cargo pants crafted from Tencel and roomy utility options elevated with crystal chains were paired with mannish poplin shirts and bomber jackets in checkered fabrics that winked to a preppy aesthetic here and there, including in the men’s offering.
Other highlights of the women’s range included denim pants with exaggerated cuffed bottoms, studded Bermuda shorts and the brand’s best-selling “Ines” denim style with mismatched closure and here rendered in subtler washes. The classic five-pocket jeans were also reinterpreted in relaxed fits “that are slim but never skinny,” underscored Gerchikov.
The boldest propositions comprised neon accents, sequins peeking from the distressed effect of jeans and pants punctuated by crystals, which will add to a special capsule collection of 40 pieces with sparkly embellishments.
Introduced last season via pants, leather was deployed for tank tops and overshirts, also for spring 2024, while Gerchikov teased the addition of cashmere pieces and the brand’s first tote bag in the next fall collection.
With retail prices ranging from 350 euros to 1,900 euros for leather pieces — and an average 550-euro price tag for denim pants — Darkpark is carried at more than 100 doors worldwide, including Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Ssense, Machine-A, Joyce, Tsum, Fwrd, Lane Crawford, Holt Renfrew, Antonia Milano, 10 Corso Como and Boon The Shop, to name a few.
Gerchikov said the distribution will soon expand to 120 doors, as interest for the men’s line is growing rapidly, too. Still, the women’s range accounts for 70 percent out of total sales at the moment. Without disclosing specific figures about 2022, Purificato said Darkpark aims to reach 5 million euros in sales this year.
The brand’s main markets are the U.S. and Russia, with increasing interest from Asia and Germany, “which has many interesting multibrand stores like the ones we have in Italy,” noted Purificato.
“For us multibrand retailers are important because they create the storytelling. They are the best marketing tool we can ask for,” he added.
Eyeing the implementation of pop-up corners at key department stores, the cofounders have already conceived and developed customized furniture and modular displays in shiny and matte surfaces aimed at further enhancing the brand’s visibility in brick-and-mortar retailers.
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