Since selling a minority stake to Blackstone in 2014, Versace has been laser-focused on expanding its retail business, opening as many as 30 stores last year — and it seems to have paid off.
The Italian luxury house announced in its 2015 earnings report on Thursday that retail sales (as in, those in its directly operated stories) increased 28.9 percent to 400.7 million euros (about $447 million). E-commerce sales saw a big jump, as well: They were up 31.2 percent. Meanwhile, wholesale sales didn't really go up or down. Total revenue was up 17. 5 percent to 645 million euros (about $720 million).
Accessories were a particularly big hit, representing 50 percent of the Versace label's retail sales. So was Versus Versace, which designer Anthony Vaccarellotook over as creative director last June. Retail revenue of the diffusion line doubled last year, just as it had the year before. Versus also got more pickup from wholesale buyers, as revenue from third party stores increased 21.4 percent.
This gangbusters retail growth shows no signs of slowing down: The brand said it plans to invest 50 million euros (about $55 million) into store openings, refurbishments to existing stores and e-commerce this year.
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