Christina Paine of MACC acquired the Australian licence for Versace Collection 12 months ago after former licensee Zestland failed to renew their holding in 2009. Paine has just opened Australia’s first Versace Collection ‘concept store’ in the Hilton Hotel Surfers Paradise’s new retail precinct.
Despite trade travelling “particularly well”, Paine was coy about plans to establish additional boutiques.
“It’s something that obviously Italy needs to be involved in. Watch this space.”
Paine’s background is in corporate branding and marketing and said her decision to take on the Versace Collection licence was motivated by the Versace Group’s reinvigoration of the brand. Versace Collection is the diffusion line founded by the Italian fashion house in 1991 and Paine has been granted the licence for 10 years.
“The men’s side of things had been around on and off [since 1991] and it was strong. But what we went and saw was the new creation [in 2009] of the women’s collection, which hadn’t been around before,” Paine said. “The interest also was they were starting to open up a number of stores worldwide and they were doing extremely well.”
On its website, Versace Group explains it is working towards a “projected opening of about 50 Versace Collection outlets”.
The Gold Coast store is 150 square metres, carries the entire Versace Collection range and is stocked in line with northern hemisphere seasons. Among the product most in demand is men’s suits, which retail from $1,800.
Women’s products include daywear dresses from $700 and eveningwear dresses from $1,500, along with footwear, bags and accessories. All product is made in Italy or Switzerland and women’s sizing extends to a 58, equivalent to an Australian size 22.
Paine said at this stage, an e-commerce arm was not allowed.
The Versace Collection store complements the Gianni Versace mainline stores at Queensland’s Palazzo Versace Hotel and Melbourne’s Crown Casino.
Erin O’Loughlin